diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e2cdca6..bcf6897 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ PY ?= python3
 CFLAGS ?= -O3
 LDFLAGS ?=
 
+R_DESTDIR = $(if $(DESTDIR),$(shell realpath "$(DESTDIR)"),)
+
 export
 
 _LINTERS_IMAGE ?= ustreamer-linters
@@ -59,10 +61,10 @@ endif
 ifneq ($(call optbool,$(WITH_JANUS)),)
 	$(MAKE) -C janus install
 endif
-	mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)$(MANPREFIX)/man1
+	mkdir -p $(R_DESTDIR)$(MANPREFIX)/man1
 	for man in $(shell ls man); do \
-		install -m644 man/$$man $(DESTDIR)$(MANPREFIX)/man1/$$man; \
-		gzip -f $(DESTDIR)$(MANPREFIX)/man1/$$man; \
+		install -m644 man/$$man $(R_DESTDIR)$(MANPREFIX)/man1/$$man; \
+		gzip -f $(R_DESTDIR)$(MANPREFIX)/man1/$$man; \
 	done
 
 
diff --git a/janus/Makefile b/janus/Makefile
index 9011183..63d4a4a 100644
--- a/janus/Makefile
+++ b/janus/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-DESTDIR ?=
+R_DESTDIR ?=
 PREFIX ?= /usr/local
 
 CC ?= gcc
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ $(_BUILD)/%.o: %.c
 
 
 install: $(_PLUGIN)
-	mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/lib/ustreamer/janus
-	install -m755 $(_PLUGIN) $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/lib/ustreamer/janus/$(PLUGIN)
+	mkdir -p $(R_DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/lib/ustreamer/janus
+	install -m755 $(_PLUGIN) $(R_DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/lib/ustreamer/janus/$(PLUGIN)
 
 
 clean:
diff --git a/python/Makefile b/python/Makefile
index a8b60d5..75c2529 100644
--- a/python/Makefile
+++ b/python/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 -include ../config.mk
 
-DESTDIR ?=
+R_DESTDIR ?=
 PREFIX ?= /usr/local
 
 PY ?= python3
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ all:
 
 
 install:
-	$(PY) setup.py install --prefix=$(PREFIX) --root=$(if $(DESTDIR),$(DESTDIR),/)
+	$(PY) setup.py install --prefix=$(PREFIX) --root=$(if $(R_DESTDIR),$(R_DESTDIR),/)
 
 
 clean:
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index 80a5e8f..a73c812 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-DESTDIR ?=
+R_DESTDIR ?=
 PREFIX ?= /usr/local
 
 CC ?= gcc
@@ -94,14 +94,16 @@ all: $(_TARGETS)
 
 
 install: all
-	mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/bin
+	mkdir -p $(R_DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/bin
 	for i in $(subst .bin,,$(_TARGETS)); do \
-		install -m755 $$i.bin $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/bin/$$i; \
+		install -m755 $$i.bin $(R_DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/bin/$$i; \
 	done
 
 
 install-strip: install
-	for i in $(subst .bin,,$(_TARGETS)); do strip $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/bin/$$i; done
+	for i in $(subst .bin,,$(_TARGETS)); do \
+		strip $(R_DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/bin/$$i; \
+	done
 
 
 $(_USTR): $(_USTR_SRCS:%.c=$(_BUILD)/%.o)