Building gawk by hand, this is the problem it seems to be hitting (during the check phase):
============== _pty1 ============= *** pty1.ok 2017-12-14 17:53:45.000000000 +0000 --- _pty1 2020-05-10 10:06:11.000000000 +0100 ** ************* *** 1,2 **** ! 123 ! x is abc --- 1,4 ---- ! sh: 1: cannot create /dev/tty: Permission denied ! sh: 1: cannot open /dev/tty: Permission denied ! x is ! x is