diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index af00d80..52063b8 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 
+PREFIX ?= /usr/local
 CXX ?= g++
 CXXFLAGS ?= -O3 -fPIC
 
-AR = ar
+AR ?= ar
+PROTOC ?= protoc
 
 all: libosmpbf.a ../include/osmpbf/fileformat.pb.h ../include/osmpbf/osmformat.pb.h
 
@@ -13,16 +15,16 @@ libosmpbf.a: fileformat.pb.o osmformat.pb.o
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -o $@ $<
 
 %.pb.cc ../include/osmpbf/%.pb.h: %.proto
-	protoc --proto_path=. --cpp_out=. $<
+	$(PROTOC) --proto_path=. --cpp_out=. $<
 	cp *.pb.h ../include/osmpbf/
 
 install:
-	install -m 755 -g root -o root -d $(DESTDIR)/usr/lib
-	install -m 644 -g root -o root libosmpbf.a $(DESTDIR)/usr/lib
-	install -m 755 -g root -o root -d $(DESTDIR)/usr/include/osmpbf
-	install -m 644 -g root -o root ../include/osmpbf/osmpbf.h $(DESTDIR)/usr/include/osmpbf
-	install -m 644 -g root -o root ../include/osmpbf/fileformat.pb.h $(DESTDIR)/usr/include/osmpbf
-	install -m 644 -g root -o root ../include/osmpbf/osmformat.pb.h $(DESTDIR)/usr/include/osmpbf
+	install -m 755 -d $(PREFIX)/lib
+	install -m 644 libosmpbf.a $(PREFIX)/lib
+	install -m 755 -d $(PREFIX)/include/osmpbf
+	install -m 644 ../include/osmpbf/osmpbf.h $(PREFIX)/include/osmpbf
+	install -m 644 ../include/osmpbf/fileformat.pb.h $(PREFIX)/include/osmpbf
+	install -m 644 ../include/osmpbf/osmformat.pb.h $(PREFIX)/include/osmpbf
 
 clean:
 	rm -f *.pb.h *.pb.cc *.pb.o libosmpbf.a
diff --git a/tools/Makefile b/tools/Makefile
index f09499b..654a1c8 100644
--- a/tools/Makefile
+++ b/tools/Makefile
@@ -1,17 +1,20 @@
 
+PREFIX ?= /usr/local
 CXX ?= g++
 CXXFLAGS ?= -g
 CXXFLAGS += -I../include
 LDFLAGS += -L../src -pthread -lz -lprotobuf-lite -losmpbf
 
+
+
 all: osmpbf-outline
 
 osmpbf-outline: osmpbf-outline.cpp
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -o $@ $< $(LDFLAGS)
 
 install:
-	install -m 755 -g root -o root -d $(DESTDIR)/usr/bin
-	install -m 644 -g root -o root -s osmpbf-outline $(DESTDIR)/usr/bin
+	install -m 755 -d $(PREFIX)/bin
+	install -m 644 -s osmpbf-outline $(PREFIX)/bin
 
 clean:
 	rm -f osmpbf-outline