diff --git a/.dir-locals.el b/.dir-locals.el
index c10603ccb3..a27908f5da 100644
--- a/.dir-locals.el
+++ b/.dir-locals.el
@@ -14,4 +14,7 @@
  (nxml-mode . (
 	       (indent-tabs-mode . nil)
 	       ))
+ (perl-mode . (
+	       (indent-tabs-mode . nil)
+	       ))
  )
diff --git a/src/check-symfile.pl b/src/check-symfile.pl
index c0b7ec7573..ac37b4614b 100755
--- a/src/check-symfile.pl
+++ b/src/check-symfile.pl
@@ -24,10 +24,10 @@ while (<SYMFILE>) {
     die "malformed line $_" unless /^\s*(\S+);$/;
 
     if (exists $wantsyms{$1}) {
-	print STDERR "Symbol $1 is listed twice\n";
-	$ret = 1;
+        print STDERR "Symbol $1 is listed twice\n";
+        $ret = 1;
     } else {
-	$wantsyms{$1} = 1;
+        $wantsyms{$1} = 1;
     }
 }
 close SYMFILE;