diff --git a/bin/zod.template b/bin/zod.template
index 77bcba3..0602f1e 100644
--- a/bin/zod.template
+++ b/bin/zod.template
@@ -3,9 +3,10 @@
 # ZODIAC - a simple static site generator
 # Copyright (c) 2011 Chase Allen James <nx-zodiac@nu-ex.com>
 
-export ZOD_LIB=ZODLIB_PATH
-export ZOD_PROJECT=$1
-export ZOD_TARGET=$2
+zod_lib=ZODLIB_PATH
+
+proj=$1
+target=$2
 
 _zod_error() {
   echo -e ">>> ERROR: $*" >&2
@@ -13,11 +14,11 @@ _zod_error() {
 }
 
 [ "$#" -ne 2 ] && { echo "usage: zod projectdir targetdir"; exit; }
-[ ! -d "$ZOD_PROJECT" ] && _zod_error "project directory does not exist"
-[ ! -d "$ZOD_TARGET" ] && _zod_error "target directory does not exist"
+[ ! -d "$proj" ] && _zod_error "project directory does not exist"
+[ ! -d "$target" ] && _zod_error "target directory does not exist"
 
-find "$ZOD_PROJECT" -type f \
+find "$proj" -type f \
               ! -name "*.layout" \
               ! -name "*.meta" \
               ! -name "helpers.awk" \
-              -exec zod_render {} \;
+              -exec zod_render $zod_lib $proj $target {} \;
diff --git a/bin/zod_render b/bin/zod_render
index 5a27682..aae5266 100755
--- a/bin/zod_render
+++ b/bin/zod_render
@@ -3,23 +3,27 @@
 # render a zodiac page
 # used internally by zod (uses file as single argument)
 
-f="$*"
-markdown_filter_cmd="awk -f $ZOD_LIB/markdown.awk"
+zod_lib=$1
+proj=$2
+target=$3
+f=$4
 
-[ -f "$ZOD_PROJECT/helpers.awk" ] && helper_opts="$ZOD_PROJECT/helpers.awk"
-[ -f "$ZOD_PROJECT/global.meta" ] && global_meta_opts="$ZOD_PROJECT/global.meta"
-[ -f "$ZOD_PROJECT/main.layout" ] && layout_opts="$ZOD_PROJECT/main.layout"
+markdown_filter_cmd="awk -f $zod_lib/markdown.awk"
+
+[ -f "$proj/helpers.awk" ] && helper_opts="$proj/helpers.awk"
+[ -f "$proj/global.meta" ] && global_meta_opts="$proj/global.meta"
+[ -f "$proj/main.layout" ] && layout_opts="$proj/main.layout"
 
 # Find the target directory if one must be created
 subdir=${f%/*}
-subdir=${subdir#$ZOD_PROJECT}
+subdir=${subdir#$proj}
 if [ "$subdir" ]; then
-  destination="$ZOD_TARGET$subdir"
+  destination="$target$subdir"
   mkdir -p "$destination"
 else
   # There is no directory to create in target,
   # i.e. file is in the root of the project
-  destination="$ZOD_TARGET"
+  destination="$target"
 fi
 
 ext=${f##*.}
@@ -31,7 +35,7 @@ if [ $ext == "md" ] || [ $ext == "html" ]; then
   page=${f##*/}
   page=${page%.$ext}.html
 
-  set -- -f "$ZOD_LIB/render.awk"
+  set -- -f "$zod_lib/render.awk"
   [ "$helper_opts" ] && set -- "$@" -f "$helper_opts"
   set -- "$@" -v markdown_filter_cmd="$markdown_filter_cmd" \
               "$global_meta_opts" \