diff --git a/configure.ac.in b/configure.ac.in
index f52ea7fe93784bd6d2f50aa947ebf80a48c43662..85806e98e4c622683703e94afd7e97a811848318 100644
--- a/configure.ac.in
+++ b/configure.ac.in
@@ -34,6 +34,14 @@ AM_CONFIG_HEADER([config.h])
 AM_MAINTAINER_MODE()
 m4_ifdef([AM_SILENT_RULES], [AM_SILENT_RULES([yes])])
 
+dnl set helper path prefix
+AC_ARG_WITH([helper-path-prefix],
+            [AC_HELP_STRING([--with-helper-path-prefix=PATH],
+                            [Path prefix under which helper executables will be installed (default: $libdir)])],
+            [HELPER_PATH_PREFIX="$withval"],
+            [HELPER_PATH_PREFIX="$libdir"])
+AC_SUBST([HELPER_PATH_PREFIX])
+
 dnl check for UNIX variants
 AC_AIX
 AC_ISC_POSIX
diff --git a/helper-dialog/Makefile.am b/helper-dialog/Makefile.am
index 09727c64d99e802522b08c7256ec94e69878f5ff..0dd8930074bdf6d062414338b98c602800685edb 100644
--- a/helper-dialog/Makefile.am
+++ b/helper-dialog/Makefile.am
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ INCLUDES =								\
 	$(LIBX11_CFLAGS)						\
 	-DPACKAGE_LOCALE_DIR=\"$(localedir)\"
 
-helper_dialogdir = $(libdir)/xfce4/xfwm4
+helper_dialogdir = $(HELPER_PATH_PREFIX)/xfce4/xfwm4
 
 helper_dialog_PROGRAMS =						\
 	helper-dialog
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 9cf486c430ba37236df26c3b519010e910321468..10280a947cd569ecbbce77334356bc7243798f02 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ xfwm4_CFLAGS =								\
 	$(COMPOSITOR_CFLAGS)						\
 	-DPACKAGE_LOCALE_DIR=\"$(localedir)\"				\
 	-DDATADIR=\"$(datadir)\"					\
-	-DLIBDIR=\"$(libdir)\"						\
+	-DHELPERDIR=\"$(HELPER_PATH_PREFIX)\"				\
 	-DPACKAGE_DATADIR=\"$(pkgdatadir)\"				\
 	-DG_LOG_DOMAIN=\"xfwm4\"
 
diff --git a/src/terminate.c b/src/terminate.c
index 69692b956330908e099a53e311eaf08547c521ad..6d18243b087ffe969f138ab264ee644661f92aaa 100644
--- a/src/terminate.c
+++ b/src/terminate.c
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ terminateShowDialog (Client *c)
     screen_info = c->screen_info;
     xid = g_strdup_printf ("0x%lx", c->window);
 
-    argv[0] = LIBDIR "/xfce4/xfwm4/helper-dialog";
+    argv[0] = HELPERDIR "/xfce4/xfwm4/helper-dialog";
     argv[1] = xid;
     argv[2] = c->name;
     argv[3] = NULL;