diff --git a/Makefile.inc b/Makefile.inc
index 4ea73cb..4828619 100644
--- a/Makefile.inc
+++ b/Makefile.inc
@@ -5,13 +5,15 @@ INSTALL = /usr/bin/install
 
 PREFIX    ?= /usr/local
 LIBDIR    ?= lib
+LIBEXEC   ?= libexec
 BINDIR     = $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/bin
 SBINDIR    = $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/sbin
 MODULESDIR = $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/$(LIBDIR)/kpatch
-LIBEXECDIR = $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/libexec/kpatch
+LIBEXECDIR = $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/$(LIBEXEC)/kpatch
 DATADIR    = $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/share/kpatch
 MANDIR     = $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/share/man/man1
 SYSTEMDDIR = $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/lib/systemd/system
+BUILDMOD   ?= yes
 
 .PHONY: all install clean
 .DEFAULT: all
diff --git a/kmod/Makefile b/kmod/Makefile
index 2cbd2a1..61b0321 100644
--- a/kmod/Makefile
+++ b/kmod/Makefile
@@ -1,18 +1,26 @@
 include ../Makefile.inc
 
 all: clean
+ifeq ($(BUILDMOD),yes)
 	$(MAKE) -C core
+endif
 
 install:
+ifeq ($(BUILDMOD),yes)
 	$(INSTALL) -d $(MODULESDIR)/$(shell uname -r)
 	$(INSTALL) -m 644 core/kpatch.ko $(MODULESDIR)/$(shell uname -r)
 	$(INSTALL) -m 644 core/Module.symvers $(MODULESDIR)/$(shell uname -r)
+endif
 	$(INSTALL) -d $(DATADIR)/patch
 	$(INSTALL) -m 644 patch/* $(DATADIR)/patch
 
 uninstall:
+ifeq ($(BUILDMOD),yes)
 	$(RM) -R $(MODULESDIR)
+endif
 	$(RM) -R $(DATADIR)
 
 clean:
+ifeq ($(BUILDMOD),yes)
 	$(MAKE) -C core clean
+endif
diff --git a/kmod/core/Makefile b/kmod/core/Makefile
index 53ad8e4..3a01339 100644
--- a/kmod/core/Makefile
+++ b/kmod/core/Makefile
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 # make rules
 KPATCH_BUILD ?= /lib/modules/$(shell uname -r)/build
+KERNELRELEASE := $(lastword $(subst /, , $(dir $(KPATCH_BUILD))))
 THISDIR := $(abspath $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
 
 ifeq ($(wildcard $(KPATCH_BUILD)),)
-$(error $(KPATCH_BUILD) doesn\'t exist.  Try installing the kernel-devel-$(shell uname -r) RPM or linux-image-$(shell uname -r)-dbg DEB.)
+$(error $(KPATCH_BUILD) doesn\'t exist.  Try installing the kernel-devel-$(KERNELRELEASE) RPM or linux-headers-$(KERNELRELEASE) DEB.)
 endif
 
 KPATCH_MAKE = $(MAKE) -C $(KPATCH_BUILD) M=$(THISDIR)
diff --git a/kpatch-build/Makefile b/kpatch-build/Makefile
index 739aa0e..58d5ede 100644
--- a/kpatch-build/Makefile
+++ b/kpatch-build/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 include ../Makefile.inc
 
 CFLAGS  += -I../kmod/patch -Iinsn -Wall -g -Werror
-LDFLAGS = -lelf
+LDFLAGS += -lelf
 
 TARGETS = create-diff-object
 OBJS = create-diff-object.o lookup.o insn/insn.o insn/inat.o