diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7c3879f2fe..a8172e8510 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -11,17 +11,16 @@ ifndef POCO_BASE
 $(warning WARNING: POCO_BASE is not defined. Assuming current directory.)
 export POCO_BASE=$(shell pwd)
 endif
-#$(info POCO_BASE  = $(POCO_BASE))
-
-ifndef POCO_PREFIX
-export POCO_PREFIX=/usr/local
+ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
+$(info POCO_BASE           = $(POCO_BASE))
 endif
-#$(info POCO_PREFIX= $(POCO_PREFIX))
 
 ifndef POCO_BUILD
 export POCO_BUILD=$(POCO_BASE)
 endif
-#$(info POCO_BUILD = $(POCO_BUILD))
+ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
+$(info POCO_BUILD          = $(POCO_BUILD))
+endif
 
 #
 # Determine OS
@@ -42,7 +41,9 @@ POCO_HOST_OSARCH ?= $(subst /,-,$(shell uname -m | tr ' ' _))
 ifndef POCO_CONFIG
 POCO_CONFIG = $(POCO_HOST_OSNAME)
 endif
-#$(info POCO_CONFIG   = $(POCO_CONFIG))
+ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
+$(info POCO_CONFIG         = $(POCO_CONFIG))
+endif
 
 #
 # Include System Specific Settings
@@ -57,14 +58,18 @@ OSNAME   := $(POCO_HOST_OSNAME)
 else
 OSNAME   := $(POCO_TARGET_OSNAME)
 endif
-#$(info OSNAME     = $(OSNAME))
+ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
+$(info OSNAME              = $(OSNAME))
+endif
 
 ifndef POCO_TARGET_OSARCH
 OSARCH   := $(POCO_HOST_OSARCH)
 else
 OSARCH   := $(POCO_TARGET_OSARCH)
 endif
-#$(info OSARCH     = $(OSARCH))
+ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
+$(info OSARCH              = $(OSARCH))
+endif
 
 .PHONY: poco all libexecs cppunit tests samples cleans clean distclean install
 
diff --git a/build/rules/global b/build/rules/global
index 2d4d5c3d27..ed88d2434b 100644
--- a/build/rules/global
+++ b/build/rules/global
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ PROJECT_BASE = $(POCO_BASE)
 endif
 export PROJECT_BASE
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info PROJECT_BASE  	= $(PROJECT_BASE))
+$(info PROJECT_BASE        = $(PROJECT_BASE))
 endif
 
 #
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ POCO_BUILD = $(PROJECT_BASE)
 endif
 export POCO_BUILD
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info POCO_BUILD    	= $(POCO_BUILD))
+$(info POCO_BUILD          = $(POCO_BUILD))
 endif
 
 #
@@ -81,12 +81,12 @@ ifeq ($(findstring MINGW,$(POCO_HOST_OSNAME)),MINGW)
 POCO_HOST_OSNAME = MinGW
 endif
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info POCO_HOST_OSNAME= $(POCO_HOST_OSNAME))
+$(info POCO_HOST_OSNAME    = $(POCO_HOST_OSNAME))
 endif
 
 POCO_HOST_OSARCH ?= $(subst /,-,$(shell uname -m | tr ' ' _))
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info POCO_HOST_OSARCH= $(POCO_HOST_OSARCH))
+$(info POCO_HOST_OSARCH    = $(POCO_HOST_OSARCH))
 endif
 
 #
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ ifndef POCO_CONFIG
 POCO_CONFIG = $(POCO_HOST_OSNAME)
 endif
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info POCO_CONFIG   	= $(POCO_CONFIG))
+$(info POCO_CONFIG         = $(POCO_CONFIG))
 endif
 
 #
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ else
 OSNAME   := $(POCO_TARGET_OSNAME)
 endif
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info OSNAME   	= $(OSNAME))
+$(info OSNAME              = $(OSNAME))
 endif
 
 ifndef POCO_TARGET_OSARCH
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ else
 OSARCH   := $(POCO_TARGET_OSARCH)
 endif
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info OSARCH   	= $(OSARCH))
+$(info OSARCH              = $(OSARCH))
 endif
 
 HOSTNAME := $(shell hostname)
@@ -221,6 +221,9 @@ POCO_LIB_INSTALLDIR = $(POCO_PREFIX)/lib
 else
 POCO_LIB_INSTALLDIR = $(LIBPATH)
 endif
+ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
+$(info POCO_LIB_INSTALLDIR = $(POCO_LIB_INSTALLDIR))
+endif
 
 ifeq ($(POCO_BASE),$(PROJECT_BASE))
 POCO_LIBRARY =
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 262425c32c..4c791501e6 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ Options:
   --prefix=<install_prefix>
     Use the given install directory for make install.
     Default is /usr/local.
+    
+  --no-prefix
+    Do not use /usr/local as default install directory and do not
+    define POCO_PREFIX.
 
   --stdcxx-base=<apache_stdcxx_install_prefix>
     If (and only if) the $base/build/config selected with --config
@@ -134,6 +138,7 @@ cd $build
 
 tests=1
 samples=1
+noprefix=0
 flags=""
 includepath=""
 librarypath=""
@@ -153,6 +158,9 @@ while [ $# -ge 1 ]; do
 
 	--prefix=*)
 		prefix="`echo ${1} | awk '{print substr($0,10)}'`" ;;
+		
+	--no-prefix)
+		noprefix=1 ;;
 
 	--stdcxx-base=*)
 		stdcxx_base="`echo ${1} | awk '{print substr($0,15)}'`" ;;
@@ -259,7 +267,9 @@ if [ ! -f "$base/build/config/$config" ] ; then
 fi
 
 if [ -z "$prefix" ] ; then
-	prefix=/usr/local
+	if [ $noprefix -eq 0 ] ; then
+		prefix=/usr/local
+	fi
 fi
 
 # check for patches
@@ -287,8 +297,10 @@ echo '# config.make generated by configure script' >$build/config.make
 echo "POCO_CONFIG = $config" >>$build/config.make
 echo "POCO_BASE = $base" >>$build/config.make
 echo "POCO_BUILD = $build" >>$build/config.make
-echo "POCO_PREFIX = $prefix" >>$build/config.make
 echo "POCO_FLAGS = $flags" >>$build/config.make
+if [ -n "$prefix" ] ; then
+	echo "POCO_PREFIX = $prefix" >>$build/config.make
+fi
 echo "OMIT = $omit" >>$build/config.make
 if [ -n "$stdcxx_base" ] ; then
 	echo "STDCXX_BASE = $stdcxx_base" >>$build/config.make
@@ -316,10 +328,12 @@ cat <<__EOF__ >>$build/config.make
 export POCO_CONFIG
 export POCO_BASE
 export POCO_BUILD
-export POCO_PREFIX
 export POCO_FLAGS
 __EOF__
 
+if [ -n "$prefix" ] ; then
+	echo "export POCO_PREFIX" >>$build/config.make
+fi
 if [ -n "$stdcxx_base" ] ; then
 	echo "export STDCXX_BASE" >>$build/config.make
 fi
diff --git a/release/script/mkdoc b/release/script/mkdoc
index cb8a95e8f6..4e7d8d5e3e 100755
--- a/release/script/mkdoc
+++ b/release/script/mkdoc
@@ -86,8 +86,8 @@ mkdir -p $tools
 mkrelease -o $tools $version CppParser PocoDoc
 
 cd $tools
-./configure --no-tests --no-samples
-make -s -j8
+./configure --no-tests --no-samples --no-prefix
+make -s -j8 
 
 if [ $osname = "CYGWIN" ] ; then
     find $tools -type f -name "*.$libversion.dll" > $TMP/dlls
diff --git a/release/script/mkrelease b/release/script/mkrelease
index 232f9f9dca..72eb378f0e 100755
--- a/release/script/mkrelease
+++ b/release/script/mkrelease
@@ -210,21 +210,14 @@ $(warning WARNING: POCO_BASE is not defined. Assuming current directory.)
 export POCO_BASE=$(shell pwd)
 endif
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info POCO_BASE  = $(POCO_BASE))
-endif
-
-ifndef POCO_PREFIX
-export POCO_PREFIX=/usr/local
-endif
-ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info POCO_PREFIX=$(POCO_PREFIX))
+$(info POCO_BASE           = $(POCO_BASE))
 endif
 
 ifndef POCO_BUILD
 export POCO_BUILD=$(POCO_BASE)
 endif
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info POCO_BUILD = $(POCO_BUILD))
+$(info POCO_BUILD          = $(POCO_BUILD))
 endif
 
 #
@@ -239,12 +232,12 @@ ifeq ($(findstring MINGW,$(POCO_HOST_OSNAME)),MINGW)
 POCO_HOST_OSNAME = MinGW
 endif
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info POCO_HOST_OSNAME= $(POCO_HOST_OSNAME))
+$(info POCO_HOST_OSNAME    = $(POCO_HOST_OSNAME))
 endif
 
 POCO_HOST_OSARCH ?= $(subst /,-,$(shell uname -m | tr ' ' _))
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info POCO_HOST_OSARCH= $(POCO_HOST_OSARCH))
+$(info POCO_HOST_OSARCH    = $(POCO_HOST_OSARCH))
 endif
 
 #
@@ -254,7 +247,7 @@ ifndef POCO_CONFIG
 POCO_CONFIG = $(POCO_HOST_OSNAME)
 endif
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info POCO_CONFIG   = $(POCO_CONFIG))
+$(info POCO_CONFIG         = $(POCO_CONFIG))
 endif
 
 #
@@ -271,7 +264,7 @@ else
 OSNAME   := $(POCO_TARGET_OSNAME)
 endif
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info OSNAME     = $(OSNAME))
+$(info OSNAME              = $(OSNAME))
 endif
 
 ifndef POCO_TARGET_OSARCH
@@ -280,7 +273,7 @@ else
 OSARCH   := $(POCO_TARGET_OSARCH)
 endif
 ifdef POCO_VERBOSE
-$(info OSARCH     = $(OSARCH))
+$(info OSARCH              = $(OSARCH))
 endif
 
 .PHONY: poco all libexecs cppunit tests samples cleans clean distclean install