diff --git a/configure b/configure
index e789fbfa08..3c4c406099 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ EOF
 echo "Standard options:"
 echo "  --help                   print this message"
 echo "  --prefix=PREFIX          install in PREFIX [$prefix]"
+echo "  --libdir=DIR             install libs in DIR [PREFIX/lib]"
 echo "  --mandir=DIR             man documentation in DIR [PREFIX/man]"
 echo "  --enable-mp3lame         enable mp3 encoding via libmp3lame [default=no]"
 echo "  --enable-ogg             enable ogg support via libogg [default=no]"
@@ -91,6 +92,7 @@ TMPH="${TMPDIR1}/ffmpeg-conf-${RANDOM}-$$-${RANDOM}.h"
 
 # default parameters
 prefix="/usr/local"
+libdir=""
 mandir=""
 bindir=""
 cross_prefix=""
@@ -376,6 +378,8 @@ for opt do
   case "$opt" in
   --prefix=*) prefix=`echo $opt | cut -d '=' -f 2`
   ;;
+  --libdir=*) libdir=`echo $opt | cut -d '=' -f 2`
+  ;;
   --mandir=*) mandir=`echo $opt | cut -d '=' -f 2`
   ;;
   --source-path=*) source_path=`echo $opt | cut -d '=' -f 2`
@@ -1062,6 +1066,10 @@ if test x"$bindir" = x""; then
 bindir="${prefix}/bin"
 fi
 
+if test x"$libdir" = x""; then
+libdir="${prefix}/lib"
+fi
+
 if test x"$mandir" = x""; then
 mandir="${prefix}/man"
 fi
@@ -1138,6 +1146,7 @@ echo "/* Automatically generated by configure - do not modify */" > $TMPH
 echo "#define FFMPEG_CONFIGURATION "'"'"$FFMPEG_CONFIGURATION"'"' >> $TMPH
 
 echo "prefix=$prefix" >> config.mak
+echo "libdir=$libdir" >> config.mak
 echo "bindir=$bindir" >> config.mak
 echo "mandir=$mandir" >> config.mak
 echo "MAKE=$make" >> config.mak
diff --git a/libavcodec/Makefile b/libavcodec/Makefile
index 9a9e770095..c15e2761c4 100644
--- a/libavcodec/Makefile
+++ b/libavcodec/Makefile
@@ -302,9 +302,9 @@ install: all install-headers
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_WIN32),yes)
 	install $(INSTALLSTRIP) -m 755 $(SLIB) "$(prefix)"
 else
-	install -d $(prefix)/lib
-	install $(INSTALLSTRIP) -m 755 $(SLIB) $(prefix)/lib/libavcodec-$(VERSION).so
-	ln -sf libavcodec-$(VERSION).so $(prefix)/lib/libavcodec.so
+	install -d $(libdir)
+	install $(INSTALLSTRIP) -m 755 $(SLIB) $(libdir)/libavcodec-$(VERSION).so
+	ln -sf libavcodec-$(VERSION).so $(libdir)/libavcodec.so
 	ldconfig || true
 endif
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_PP),yes)
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ install:
 endif
 
 installlib: all install-headers
-	install -m 644 $(LIB) "$(prefix)/lib"
+	install -m 644 $(LIB) "$(libdir)"
 
 install-headers:
 	mkdir -p "$(prefix)/include/ffmpeg"
diff --git a/libavcodec/libpostproc/Makefile b/libavcodec/libpostproc/Makefile
index 87a118a8ea..ae1c9d8ca6 100644
--- a/libavcodec/libpostproc/Makefile
+++ b/libavcodec/libpostproc/Makefile
@@ -54,9 +54,9 @@ ifeq ($(SHARED_PP),yes)
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_WIN32),yes)
        install $(INSTALLSTRIP) -m 755 $(SPPLIB) "$(prefix)"
 else
-	install -d $(prefix)/lib
-	install $(INSTALLSTRIP) -m 755 $(SPPLIB) $(prefix)/lib/$(SPPLIB).$(SPPVERSION)
-	ln -sf $(SPPLIB).$(SPPVERSION) $(prefix)/lib/$(SPPLIB)
+	install -d $(libdir)
+	install $(INSTALLSTRIP) -m 755 $(SPPLIB) $(libdir)/$(SPPLIB).$(SPPVERSION)
+	ln -sf $(SPPLIB).$(SPPVERSION) $(libdir)/$(SPPLIB)
 	ldconfig || true
 endif
 endif
diff --git a/libavformat/Makefile b/libavformat/Makefile
index 6ff36d1a5b..bdc0d67ff1 100644
--- a/libavformat/Makefile
+++ b/libavformat/Makefile
@@ -108,9 +108,9 @@ install: all install-headers
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_WIN32),yes)
 	install $(INSTALLSTRIP) -m 755 $(SLIB) "$(prefix)"
 else
-	install -d $(prefix)/lib
-	install $(INSTALLSTRIP) -m 755 $(SLIB) $(prefix)/lib/libavformat-$(VERSION).so
-	ln -sf libavformat-$(VERSION).so $(prefix)/lib/libavformat.so
+	install -d $(libdir)
+	install $(INSTALLSTRIP) -m 755 $(SLIB) $(libdir)/libavformat-$(VERSION).so
+	ln -sf libavformat-$(VERSION).so $(libdir)/libavformat.so
 	ldconfig || true
 endif
 else
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ install:
 endif
 
 installlib: all install-headers
-	install -m 644 $(LIB) "$(prefix)/lib"
+	install -m 644 $(LIB) "$(libdir)"
 
 install-headers:
 	mkdir -p "$(prefix)/include/ffmpeg"
diff --git a/vhook/Makefile b/vhook/Makefile
index 9415be191c..c77ae14460 100644
--- a/vhook/Makefile
+++ b/vhook/Makefile
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ depend: $(SRCS)
 	$(CC) -MM $(CFLAGS) $^ 1>.depend
 
 install:
-	install -d "$(prefix)/lib/vhook"
-	install -m 755 $(HOOKS) "$(prefix)/lib/vhook"
+	install -d "$(libdir)/vhook"
+	install -m 755 $(HOOKS) "$(libdir)/vhook"
 
 imlib2.so: imlib2.o
 	$(CC) -g -o $@ $(SHFLAGS) $< -lImlib2