diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 09042026e20047db4beb48b80977310c4cb9631b..4f11a219364afb65e50ce385d0df65403df6e959 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -31,9 +31,8 @@ EXTRA_DIST =								\
 	COPYING.LIB							\
 	ChangeLog							\
 	HACKING								\
-	INSTALL								\
 	NEWS								\
-	README								\
+	README.md                           \
 	THANKS								\
 	intltool-extract.in						\
 	intltool-merge.in						\
diff --git a/README b/README
deleted file mode 100644
index 76cff7d99699af47d46ce4bf1f408f51dd4163ea..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/README
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
-What is it?
-===========
-
-This is libexo, an extension library to Xfce, originally developed by
-os-cillation. While Xfce comes with quite a few libraries that are targeted at
-desktop development, libexo is targeted at application development.
-
-
-Current state
-=============
-
-libexo is considered ready for production use. You do no longer need to
-define the EXO_API_SUBJECT_TO_CHANGE preprocessor symbol.
-
-
-Installation
-============
-
-The file 'INSTALL' contains generic installation instructions.
-
-
-Debugging Support
-=================
-
-libexo currently supports four different levels of debugging support, which
-can be setup using the configure flag `--enable-debug' (check the output of
-`configure --help'):
-
-  `full'    This is the strongest option. Deprecation and some coding style
-            checks are made and will cause the build to fail for any errors
-            or warnings.
-
-  `yes'     This is the default for Git snapshot builds. It adds all kinds
-            of checks to the code, and is therefore likely to run slower.
-            Use this for development of libexo and locating bugs in libexo.
-
-  `minimum' This is the default for release builds. This is the recommended
-            behavior.
-
-  `no'      Disables all sanity checks. Don't use this unless you know
-            exactly what you do.
-
-
-How to report bugs?
-===================
-
-Bugs should be reported to the Xfce bug tracking system
-(https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/exo/-/issues). You will need
-to create an account for yourself.
-
-Please read the HACKING file for information on where to send changes
-or bugfixes for this package.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..885a653dd5b72bb601e73104940cf0c9710d9952
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+[![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-GPL%20v2-blue.svg)](https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/exo/COPYING)
+
+# exo
+
+
+exo is an extension library used in the Xfce desktop. It has some helper
+applications that are used throughout the entire desktop, to manage preferred 
+applications and edit .desktop files.
+
+----
+
+### Homepage
+
+[exo documentation](https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/exo/start)
+
+### Changelog
+
+See [NEWS](https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/exo/-/blob/master/NEWS) for details on changes and fixes made in the current release.
+
+### Source Code Repository
+
+[exo source code](https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/exo)
+
+### Download A Release Tarball
+
+[exo archive](https://archive.xfce.org/src/xfce/exo)
+    or
+[exo tags](https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/exo/-/tags)
+
+### Installation
+
+From source: 
+
+    % cd exo
+    % ./autogen.sh
+    % make
+    % make install
+
+From release tarball:
+
+    % tar xf exo-<version>.tar.bz2
+    % cd exo-<version>
+    % ./configure
+    % make
+    % make install
+
+### Reporting Bugs
+
+Visit the [reporting bugs](https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/exo/bugs) page to view currently open bug reports and instructions on reporting new bugs or submitting bugfixes.
+
diff --git a/configure.ac.in b/configure.ac.in
index b85adc6b991c247c1a149562fe4735be81280ca7..c4863b8f580c0904e8c794d8e95f6e526c0a1feb 100644
--- a/configure.ac.in
+++ b/configure.ac.in
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ AC_CANONICAL_TARGET()
 dnl ***************************
 dnl *** Initialize automake ***
 dnl ***************************
-AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([1.11 dist-bzip2 tar-ustar no-dist-gzip])
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([1.11 dist-bzip2 tar-ustar no-dist-gzip foreign])
 AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([config.h])
 AM_MAINTAINER_MODE()
 AM_SILENT_RULES([yes])