ftp client does not honor .netrc macro definitions

[Alessandro Selli]

Ubuntu version info:
Description: Ubuntu 16.10
Release: 16.10
Codename: yakkety

ftp client from:
Package: ftp
Version: 0.17-28

ftp client does not honor macro definitions in users' ~/.netrc file. According to man ftp(1) it should.
Example:

[alessandro@wkstn05 ~]$ cat ~/.netrc
default login ftp password <email address hidden>

macdef linux
 cd pub/linux/kernel/v4.x
 lcd ~/src

[alessandro@wkstn05 ~]$ ftp ftp.kernel.org
Connected to ftp.all.kernel.org.
220 Welcome to kernel.org
331 Please specify the password.
230 Login successful.
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> $linux
'linux' macro not found.
ftp> bye
221 Goodbye.
[alessandro@wkstn05 ~]$

However macro definitions do work when defined on the ftp prompt:

[alessandro@wkstn05 ~]$ ftp ftp.kernel.org
Connected to ftp.all.kernel.org.
220 Welcome to kernel.org
331 Please specify the password.
230 Login successful.
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> macdef linux
Enter macro line by line, terminating it with a null line
cd pub/linux/kernel/v4.x
lcd ~/src

ftp> $linux
cd pub/linux/kernel/v4.x
250 Directory successfully changed.
lcd ~/src
Local directory now /home/alessandro/src
ftp> bye
221 Goodbye.
[alessandro@wkstn05 ~]$

The ~/.netrc file is actually read, as the default login line does have effect.
I do not remember having this problem with ftp from Ubuntu xenial and previous releases.