$(if ) function crashes executing 'else' part if it is not last in the expression

[Yaroslav Sokolov]

$(if ) function crashes if it is not last in the expression and the value of
first argument is false (it should be executed 'else' part).
I attached the file illustrating this bug.

I used:

GNU Make version 3.78.1, by Richard Stallman and Roland McGrath.
Built for i586-pc-linux-gnu
Copyright (C) 1988, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99
        Free Software Foundation, Inc.
-- 
                                        Yaroslav M. Sokolov

release :=#empty

flags = $(if $(release),release_part,debug_part) other_flags

all:
        echo $(flags)