diff --git a/.github/FUNDING.yml b/.github/FUNDING.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a5b705f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/FUNDING.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# https://help.github.com/en/articles/displaying-a-sponsor-button-in-your-repository
+
+open_collective: dlang
+custom: https://dlang.org/foundation/donate.html
diff --git a/source/dub/compilers/compiler.d b/source/dub/compilers/compiler.d
index b6a96cc..42e6cf9 100644
--- a/source/dub/compilers/compiler.d
+++ b/source/dub/compilers/compiler.d
@@ -92,6 +92,9 @@
 	/// Convert linker flags to compiler format
 	string[] lflagsToDFlags(in string[] lflags) const;
 
+	/// Determines compiler version
+	string determineVersion(string compiler_binary, string verboseOutput);
+
 	/** Runs a tool and provides common boilerplate code.
 
 		This method should be used by `Compiler` implementations to invoke the
@@ -123,19 +126,12 @@
 			compiler_binary =	binary to invoke compiler with
 			args			=	arguments for the probe compilation
 			arch_override	=	special handler for x86_mscoff
-			versionRes		=	array of regular expressions to scan the output
-								and find the compiler version. For each, the
-								version must be in capture index 1. The output
-								is scanned in multi-line mode (i.e. ^ will match any line start)
 	*/
 	protected final BuildPlatform probePlatform(string compiler_binary, string[] args,
-		string arch_override, string[] versionRes)
+		string arch_override)
 	{
 		import dub.compilers.utils : generatePlatformProbeFile, readPlatformJsonProbe;
-		import std.algorithm : filter, map;
-		import std.range : takeOne;
-		import std.regex : matchFirst, regex;
-		import std.string : format;
+		import std.string : format, strip;
 
 		auto fil = generatePlatformProbeFile();
 
@@ -151,17 +147,14 @@
 				`This will probably result in build errors.`, build_platform.compiler, this.name);
 		}
 
-		auto ver = versionRes
-			.map!(re => matchFirst(result.output, regex(re, "m")))
-			.filter!(c => c.length > 1)
-			.map!(c => c[1])
-			.takeOne();
+		auto ver = determineVersion(compiler_binary, result.output)
+			.strip;
 		if (ver.empty) {
 			logWarn(`Could not probe the compiler version for "%s". ` ~
 				`Toolchain requirements might be ineffective`, build_platform.compiler);
 		}
 		else {
-			build_platform.compilerVersion = ver.front;
+			build_platform.compilerVersion = ver;
 		}
 
 		// Hack: see #1059
diff --git a/source/dub/compilers/dmd.d b/source/dub/compilers/dmd.d
index a628076..bf06e4c 100644
--- a/source/dub/compilers/dmd.d
+++ b/source/dub/compilers/dmd.d
@@ -99,6 +99,13 @@
 		assert(c && c.length > 1 && c[1] == "2.084.0-beta.1");
 	}
 
+	string determineVersion(string compiler_binary, string verboseOutput)
+	{
+		import std.regex : matchFirst, regex;
+		auto ver = matchFirst(verboseOutput, regex(dmdVersionRe, "m"));
+		return ver && ver.length > 1 ? ver[1] : null;
+	}
+
 	BuildPlatform determinePlatform(ref BuildSettings settings, string compiler_binary, string arch_override)
 	{
 		string[] arch_flags;
@@ -109,7 +116,7 @@
 				version (Windows) {
 					const is64bit = isWow64();
 					if (!is64bit.isNull)
-						arch_flags = [is64bit ? "-m64" : "-m32mscoff"];
+						arch_flags = [is64bit.get ? "-m64" : "-m32mscoff"];
 				}
 				break;
 			case "x86": arch_flags = ["-m32"]; break;
@@ -121,8 +128,7 @@
 		return probePlatform(
 			compiler_binary,
 			arch_flags ~ ["-quiet", "-c", "-o-", "-v"],
-			arch_override,
-			[ dmdVersionRe ]
+			arch_override
 		);
 	}
 
@@ -287,7 +293,7 @@
 
 	string[] lflagsToDFlags(in string[] lflags) const
 	{
-		return  lflags.map!(f => "-L"~f)().array();
+        return map!(f => "-L"~f)(lflags.filter!(f => f != "")()).array();
 	}
 
 	private auto escapeArgs(in string[] args)
diff --git a/source/dub/compilers/gdc.d b/source/dub/compilers/gdc.d
index 53225e3..4a9c0d2 100644
--- a/source/dub/compilers/gdc.d
+++ b/source/dub/compilers/gdc.d
@@ -54,31 +54,15 @@
 
 	@property string name() const { return "gdc"; }
 
-	enum gdcVersionRe1 = `GDC\s+(\d+\.\d+\.\d+[A-Za-z0-9.+-]*)`;
-	enum gdcVersionRe2 = `^GNU D \(.*?\) version (\d+\.\d+\.\d+[A-Za-z0-9.+-]*)`;
-	enum gdcVersionRe3 = `^gcc version (\d+\.\d+\.\d+[A-Za-z0-9.+-]*)`;
+	string determineVersion(string compiler_binary, string verboseOutput)
+	{
+		const result = execute([
+			compiler_binary,
+			"-dumpfullversion",
+			"-dumpversion"
+		]);
 
-	unittest {
-		import std.algorithm : equal, map;
-		import std.range : only;
-		import std.regex : matchFirst, regex;
-		auto probe = `
-Target: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
-Thread model: posix
-gcc version 8.2.1 20180831 (GDC 8.2.1 based on D v2.068.2 built with ISL 0.20 for Arch Linux)
-GGC heuristics: --param ggc-min-expand=100 --param ggc-min-heapsize=131072
-GNU D (GDC 8.2.1 based on D v2.068.2 built with ISL 0.20 for Arch Linux) version 8.2.1 20180831 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
-GGC heuristics: --param ggc-min-expand=100 --param ggc-min-heapsize=131072
-binary    /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/8.2.1/cc1d
-version   v2.068.2
-predefs   GNU D_Version2 LittleEndian GNU_DWARF2_Exceptions GNU_StackGrowsDown GNU_InlineAsm D_LP64 D_PIC assert all X86_64 D_HardFloat Posix linux CRuntime_Glibc
-`;
-		auto vers = only(gdcVersionRe1, gdcVersionRe2, gdcVersionRe3)
-			.map!(re => matchFirst(probe, regex(re, "m")))
-			.filter!(c => c && c.length > 1)
-			.map!(c => c[1]);
-
-		assert(vers.equal([ "8.2.1", "8.2.1", "8.2.1" ]));
+		return result.status == 0 ? result.output : null;
 	}
 
 	BuildPlatform determinePlatform(ref BuildSettings settings, string compiler_binary, string arch_override)
@@ -97,8 +81,7 @@
 		return probePlatform(
 			compiler_binary,
 			arch_flags ~ ["-S", "-v"],
-			arch_override,
-			[ gdcVersionRe1, gdcVersionRe2, gdcVersionRe3 ]
+			arch_override
 		);
 	}
 
@@ -250,6 +233,9 @@
 		string[] dflags;
 		foreach( f; lflags )
 		{
+            if ( f == "") {
+                continue;
+            }
 			dflags ~= "-Xlinker";
 			dflags ~= f;
 		}
diff --git a/source/dub/compilers/ldc.d b/source/dub/compilers/ldc.d
index 4522825..11c2872 100644
--- a/source/dub/compilers/ldc.d
+++ b/source/dub/compilers/ldc.d
@@ -69,6 +69,13 @@
 		assert(c && c.length > 1 && c[1] == "1.11.0");
 	}
 
+	string determineVersion(string compiler_binary, string verboseOutput)
+	{
+		import std.regex : matchFirst, regex;
+		auto ver = matchFirst(verboseOutput, regex(ldcVersionRe, "m"));
+		return ver && ver.length > 1 ? ver[1] : null;
+	}
+
 	BuildPlatform determinePlatform(ref BuildSettings settings, string compiler_binary, string arch_override)
 	{
 		string[] arch_flags;
@@ -83,8 +90,7 @@
 		return probePlatform(
 			compiler_binary,
 			arch_flags ~ ["-c", "-o-", "-v"],
-			arch_override,
-			[ ldcVersionRe ]
+			arch_override
 		);
 	}
 
@@ -230,7 +236,7 @@
 
 	string[] lflagsToDFlags(in string[] lflags) const
 	{
-		return  lflags.map!(s => "-L="~s)().array();
+        return map!(f => "-L"~f)(lflags.filter!(f => f != "")()).array();
 	}
 
 	private auto escapeArgs(in string[] args)
diff --git a/source/dub/dub.d b/source/dub/dub.d
index 33f99cc..d1b6d4c 100644
--- a/source/dub/dub.d
+++ b/source/dub/dub.d
@@ -1630,7 +1630,7 @@
 				// note: external sub packages are handled further below
 				auto spr = basepack.getInternalSubPackage(subname);
 				if (!spr.isNull) {
-					auto sp = new Package(spr, basepack.path, basepack);
+					auto sp = new Package(spr.get, basepack.path, basepack);
 					m_remotePackages[sp.name] = sp;
 					return sp;
 				} else {
diff --git a/source/dub/internal/utils.d b/source/dub/internal/utils.d
index 6466e5b..6380791 100644
--- a/source/dub/internal/utils.d
+++ b/source/dub/internal/utils.d
@@ -366,13 +366,20 @@
 	on "unrecoverable failures" such as 404 not found
 	Otherwise might throw anything else that `download` throws.
 	See_Also: download
+
+	The download times out if a connection cannot be established within
+	`timeout` ms, or if the average transfer rate drops below 10 bytes / s for
+	more than `timeout` seconds.  Pass `0` as `timeout` to disable both timeout
+	mechanisms.
+
+	Note: Timeouts are only implemented when curl is used (DubUseCurl).
 **/
-void retryDownload(URL url, NativePath filename, size_t retryCount = 3)
+void retryDownload(URL url, NativePath filename, size_t retryCount = 3, uint timeout = 8)
 {
 	foreach(i; 0..retryCount) {
 		version(DubUseCurl) {
 			try {
-				download(url, filename);
+				download(url, filename, timeout);
 				return;
 			}
 			catch(HTTPStatusException e) {
@@ -408,12 +415,12 @@
 }
 
 ///ditto
-ubyte[] retryDownload(URL url, size_t retryCount = 3)
+ubyte[] retryDownload(URL url, size_t retryCount = 3, uint timeout = 8)
 {
 	foreach(i; 0..retryCount) {
 		version(DubUseCurl) {
 			try {
-				return download(url);
+				return download(url, timeout);
 			}
 			catch(HTTPStatusException e) {
 				if (e.status == 404) throw e;
diff --git a/source/dub/packagesuppliers/maven.d b/source/dub/packagesuppliers/maven.d
index 372851d..eaee689 100644
--- a/source/dub/packagesuppliers/maven.d
+++ b/source/dub/packagesuppliers/maven.d
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 	import std.datetime : Clock, Duration, hours, SysTime, UTC;
 
 	private {
+		enum httpTimeout = 16;
 		URL m_mavenUrl;
 		struct CacheEntry { Json data; SysTime cacheTime; }
 		CacheEntry[string] m_metadataCache;
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@
 		auto url = m_mavenUrl~NativePath("%s/%s/%s-%s.zip".format(packageId, vers, packageId, vers));
 
 		try {
-			retryDownload(url, path);
+			retryDownload(url, path, 3, httpTimeout);
 			return;
 		}
 		catch(HTTPStatusException e) {
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@
 		string xmlData;
 
 		try
-			xmlData = cast(string)retryDownload(url);
+			xmlData = cast(string)retryDownload(url, 3, httpTimeout);
 		catch(HTTPStatusException e) {
 			if (e.status == 404) {
 				logDebug("Maven metadata %s not found at %s (404): %s", packageId, description, e.msg);
diff --git a/test/issue1003-check-empty-ld-flags.sh b/test/issue1003-check-empty-ld-flags.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..61678f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/issue1003-check-empty-ld-flags.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+. $(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/common.sh
+
+cd ${CURR_DIR}/issue1003-check-empty-ld-flags
+
+${DUB} build --compiler=${DC} --force
diff --git a/test/issue1003-check-empty-ld-flags/dub.json b/test/issue1003-check-empty-ld-flags/dub.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c4c251
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/issue1003-check-empty-ld-flags/dub.json
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+	"authors": [
+		"--"
+	],
+	"copyright": "Copyright © 2019, --",
+	"description": "--",
+	"license": "--",
+	"name": "issue1003-empty-ld-flags",
+    "lflags": [""]
+}
diff --git a/test/issue1003-check-empty-ld-flags/source/app.d b/test/issue1003-check-empty-ld-flags/source/app.d
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c3eec7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/issue1003-check-empty-ld-flags/source/app.d
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+import std.stdio;
+
+void main()
+{
+	writeln("Edit source/app.d to start your project.");
+}
diff --git a/test/issue1037-better-dependency-messages.sh b/test/issue1037-better-dependency-messages.sh
index c06bdc4..4c5c87a 100755
--- a/test/issue1037-better-dependency-messages.sh
+++ b/test/issue1037-better-dependency-messages.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 function cleanup {
     rm -f $temp_file
-    rm -f $temp_file
+    rm -f $temp_file2
 }
 
 trap cleanup EXIT
@@ -22,4 +22,4 @@
     die 'output not containing conflict information'
 fi
 
-exit 0
\ No newline at end of file
+exit 0