diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7f94aafefb..747fd8632c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -23,11 +23,6 @@ SUBDIRS += libdha vidix
 DO_MAKE = @ for i in $(SUBDIRS); do $(MAKE) -C $$i $@; done
 endif
 
-#prefix = /usr/local
-BINDIR = ${prefix}/bin
-# BINDIR = /usr/local/bin
-MANDIR = ${prefix}/man
-
 # a BSD compatible 'install' program
 INSTALL = install
 
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index ee49cf1ec0..a849e1fe60 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -117,8 +117,12 @@ Configuration:
 
 Installation directories:
   --prefix=DIR           use this prefix for installing mplayer [/usr/local]
+  --bindir=DIR           use this prefix for installing mplayer binary
+                         [PREFIX/bin]
   --datadir=DIR          use this prefix for installing machine independent
                          data files (fonts, skins) [PREFIX/share/mplayer]
+  --mandir=DIR           use this prefix for installing manpages
+                         [PREFIX/man]
   --confdir=DIR          use this prefix for installing configuration files
                          [same as datadir]
   --libdir=DIR           use this prefix for object code libraries
@@ -1250,9 +1254,15 @@ for ac_option do
   --prefix=*)
     _prefix=`echo $ac_option | cut -d '=' -f 2`
     ;;
+  --bindir=*)
+    _bindir=`echo $ac_option | cut -d '=' -f 2`
+    ;;
   --datadir=*)
     _datadir=`echo $ac_option | cut -d '=' -f 2`
     ;;
+  --mandir=*)
+    _mandir=`echo $ac_option | cut -d '=' -f 2`
+    ;;
   --confdir=*)
     _confdir=`echo $ac_option | cut -d '=' -f 2`
     ;;
@@ -1269,7 +1279,9 @@ for ac_option do
 done
 
 # Atmos: moved this here, to be correct, if --prefix is specified
+test -z "$_bindir" && _bindir="$_prefix/bin"
 test -z "$_datadir" && _datadir="$_prefix/share/mplayer"
+test -z "$_mandir" && _mandir="$_prefix/man"
 test -z "$_confdir" && _confdir="$_prefix/etc/mplayer"
 test -z "$_libdir" && _libdir="$_prefix/lib"
 test -z "$_mlibdir" && _mlibdir="$MLIBHOME"
@@ -4237,7 +4249,9 @@ LANG = C
 TARGET_OS = $system_name
 DESTDIR =
 prefix = \$(DESTDIR)$_prefix
+BINDIR = \$(DESTDIR)$_bindir
 DATADIR = \$(DESTDIR)$_datadir
+MANDIR = \$(DESTDIR)$_mandir
 CONFDIR = \$(DESTDIR)$_confdir
 LIBDIR = \$(DESTDIR)$_libdir
 #AR = ar