diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f0a3764..bd0f4a6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-PREFIX                  = /usr
+PREFIX                  ?= /usr
 INCLUDE_DIR             = ${PREFIX}/include
 LIBRARY_DIR             = ${PREFIX}/lib
 export LIBRARY_NAME		= amqpcpp