diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index dc5aa12f..e63fd428 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -1,8 +1,4 @@
-# @(#$Id: Makefile,v 1.21 2005-12-06 15:10:36 dockes Exp $  (C) 2005 J.F.Dockes
-
-# Default values. These can be overridden on the command line ie: 
-# make prefix=/usr
-prefix=/usr/local
+# @(#$Id: Makefile,v 1.22 2005-12-16 10:06:56 dockes Exp $  (C) 2005 J.F.Dockes
 
 all: mk/sysconf common/rclversion.h
 	cd lib; ${MAKE}
@@ -43,6 +39,6 @@ distclean: clean
 	rm -f mk/sysconf mk/localdefs sampleconf/recoll.conf recollinstall
 
 install: all
-	./recollinstall ${prefix}
+	./recollinstall
 
 .PHONY: all static clean distclean install
diff --git a/src/mk/localdefs.in b/src/mk/localdefs.in
index 176f7272..07529659 100644
--- a/src/mk/localdefs.in
+++ b/src/mk/localdefs.in
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ XAPIANCXXFLAGS=@XAPIANCXXFLAGS@
 
 LIBICONV=@LIBICONV@
 INCICONV=@INCICONV@
+RECOLL_PREFIX=@prefix@
 
-LOCALCXXFLAGS = $(INCICONV) $(XAPIANCXXFLAGS) -DRECOLL_PREFIX=\"@prefix@\"
+LOCALCXXFLAGS = $(INCICONV) $(XAPIANCXXFLAGS) \
+	      -DRECOLL_PREFIX=\"$(RECOLL_PREFIX)\"
 
diff --git a/src/qtgui/main.cpp b/src/qtgui/main.cpp
index f97a3418..ff25e5c4 100644
--- a/src/qtgui/main.cpp
+++ b/src/qtgui/main.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #ifndef lint
-static char rcsid[] = "@(#$Id: main.cpp,v 1.26 2005-12-15 14:39:57 dockes Exp $ (C) 2005 J.F.Dockes";
+static char rcsid[] = "@(#$Id: main.cpp,v 1.27 2005-12-16 10:06:56 dockes Exp $ (C) 2005 J.F.Dockes";
 #endif
 
 #include <unistd.h>
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ using Rcl::AdvSearchData;
 
 #include "recollmain.h"
 
-static const char *recollsharedir = "/usr/local/share/recoll";
+static const char *recollprefix = RECOLL_PREFIX;
 
 RclConfig *rclconfig;
 Rcl::Db *rcldb;
@@ -133,6 +133,15 @@ int main( int argc, char ** argv )
     qt.load( QString( "qt_" ) + QTextCodec::locale(), "." );
     a.installTranslator( &qt );
 
+    // Translations for Recoll
+    string recollsharedir = path_cat(recollprefix, "share");
+    string translatdir = path_cat(recollsharedir, "translations");
+    QTranslator translator( 0 );
+    // QTextCodec::locale() returns $LANG
+    translator.load( QString("recoll_") + QTextCodec::locale(), 
+		     translatdir.c_str() );
+    a.installTranslator( &translator );
+
     rwSettings(false);
 
     // Create main window and set its size to previous session's
@@ -161,14 +170,6 @@ int main( int argc, char ** argv )
     }
     dbdir = path_tildexpand(dbdir);
 
-    // Translations for Recoll
-    string translatdir = path_cat(recollsharedir, "translations");
-    QTranslator translator( 0 );
-    // QTextCodec::locale() returns $LANG
-    translator.load( QString("recoll_") + QTextCodec::locale(), 
-		     translatdir.c_str() );
-    a.installTranslator( &translator );
-
     rclconfig->getConfParam("iconsdir", iconsdir);
     if (iconsdir.empty()) {
 	iconsdir = path_cat(recollsharedir, "images");
diff --git a/src/qtgui/recoll.pro b/src/qtgui/recoll.pro
index efba4431..ac71e552 100644
--- a/src/qtgui/recoll.pro
+++ b/src/qtgui/recoll.pro
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ unix {
   UI_DIR = .ui
   MOC_DIR = .moc
   OBJECTS_DIR = .obj
+  DEFINES += RECOLL_PREFIX=\"$(RECOLL_PREFIX)\"
   LIBS += ../lib/librcl.a ../bincimapmime/libmime.a \
             $(BSTATIC) $(LIBXAPIAN) $(LIBICONV) $(BDYNAMIC) \
            -lz
diff --git a/src/recollinstall.in b/src/recollinstall.in
index ebb8d1f8..afc1f404 100755
--- a/src/recollinstall.in
+++ b/src/recollinstall.in
@@ -8,19 +8,22 @@ fatal()
 }
 usage()
 {
-    fatal 'Usage: recollinstall <dir>, ie: recollinstall /usr/local'
+    fatal 'Usage: recollinstall [<dir>], ie: recollinstall /usr/local'
 }
 
-test $# = 1 || usage
+if test $# -eq 0 ; then
+   PREFIX=@prefix@
+elif test $# -eq 1 ; then
+   PREFIX=$1
+else
+   usage
+fi
+
+echo "Installing to $PREFIX"
 
 INSTALL=${INSTALL:=install -c}
 STRIP=${STRIP:=strip}
 
-# Install commands and example config to target directory
-PREFIX=$1
-
-echo "Installing to $PREFIX"
-
 test -x qtgui/recoll || fatal "qtgui/recoll does not exist." \
      " You need to build first (type 'make')."