diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fc743f10..cc378daa 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -15,4 +15,5 @@ depcomp
 install-sh
 missing
 lsusb
-
+lsusb.8
+update-usbids.sh
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 85154448..eee0cbc3 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ endif
 sbin_PROGRAMS = \
 	lsusb
 
+sbin_SCRIPTS = \
+	update-usbids.sh
+
 lsusb_SOURCES = \
 	lsusb.c \
 	lsusb-t.c \
@@ -27,15 +30,28 @@ lsusb_CPPFLAGS = \
 lsusb_LDADD = \
 	$(LIBUSB_LIBS)
 
-dist_man_MANS = \
+man_MANS = \
 	lsusb.8
 
 EXTRA_DIST = \
 	usb.ids \
-	update-usbids.sh
+	update-usbids.sh.in \
+	lsusb.8.in
 
 usb.ids.gz: $(srcdir)/usb.ids
 	gzip -c -9 $< > $@
 
+update-usbids.sh: $(srcdir)/update-usbids.sh.in
+	sed 's|@usbids@|$(datadir)/usb.ids|g' $< >$@
+	chmod 755 $@
+
+lsusb.8: $(srcdir)/lsusb.8.in
+	sed 's|@usbids@|$(datadir)/usb.ids|g' $< >$@
+
+DISTCLEANFILES = \
+	usb.ids.gz \
+	lsusb.8 \
+	update-usbids.sh
+
 distclean-local:
 	rm -rf autom4te.cache
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 9013f22e..48df0ba2 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ AC_INIT([usbutils],
 	[linux-usb@vger.kernel.org])
 AC_PREREQ(2.60)
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([check-news foreign 1.9 dist-bzip2])
+AC_PREFIX_DEFAULT([/usr])
+
 AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS
 AC_SYS_LARGEFILE
 
@@ -38,6 +40,7 @@ AC_MSG_RESULT([
 
 	prefix:                 ${prefix}
 	datarootdir:            ${datarootdir}
+	datadir:                ${datadir}
 	mandir:                 ${mandir}
 
 	usb.ids:                ${datadir}/usb.ids
diff --git a/lsusb.8 b/lsusb.8.in
similarity index 98%
rename from lsusb.8
rename to lsusb.8.in
index 14e662c9..1922b0ac 100644
--- a/lsusb.8
+++ b/lsusb.8.in
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ If the specified device is not found, a non-zero exit code is returned.
 
 .SH FILES
 .TP
-.B /usr/share/usb.ids
+.B @usbids@
 A list of all known USB ID's (vendors, products, classes, subclasses and protocols).
 
 .SH SEE ALSO
diff --git a/update-usbids.sh b/update-usbids.sh.in
similarity index 98%
rename from update-usbids.sh
rename to update-usbids.sh.in
index 3072f036..4a487ed7 100755
--- a/update-usbids.sh
+++ b/update-usbids.sh.in
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 set -e
 SRC="http://www.linux-usb.org/usb.ids"
-DEST=usb.ids
+DEST=@usbids@
 
 # if usb.ids is read-only (because the filesystem is read-only),
 # then just skip this whole process.