diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index fb310829aa..b3647bf878 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -4,6 +4,27 @@
 
  Changes between 1.0.2e and 1.1.0  [xx XXX xxxx]
 
+  *) To clarify their intended purposes, the Configure options
+     --prefix and --openssldir change their semantics, and become more
+     straightforward and less interdependent.
+
+     --prefix shall be used exclusively to give the location INSTALLTOP
+     where programs, scripts, libraries, include files and manuals are
+     going to be installed.  The default is now /usr/local.
+
+     --openssldir shall be used exclusively to give the default
+     location OPENSSLDIR where certificates, private keys, CRLs are
+     managed.  This is also where the default openssl.cnf gets
+     installed.
+     If the directory given with this option is a relative path, the
+     values of both the --prefix value and the --openssldir value will
+     be combined to become OPENSSLDIR.
+     The default for --openssldir is INSTALLTOP/ssl.
+
+     Anyone who uses --openssldir to specify where OpenSSL is to be
+     installed MUST change to use --prefix instead.
+     [Richard Levitte]
+
   *) The GOST engine was out of date and therefore it has been removed. An up
      to date GOST engine is now being maintained in an external repository.
      See: https://wiki.openssl.org/index.php/Binaries. Libssl still retains
diff --git a/Configure b/Configure
index 5189fcbb61..4c2f01fdb3 100755
--- a/Configure
+++ b/Configure
@@ -21,10 +21,15 @@ my $usage="Usage: Configure [no-<cipher> ...] [enable-<cipher> ...] [experimenta
 # --config      add the given configuration file, which will be read after
 #               any "Configurations*" files that are found in the same
 #               directory as this script.
-# --openssldir  install OpenSSL in OPENSSLDIR (Default: DIR/ssl if the
-#               --prefix option is given; /usr/local/ssl otherwise)
-# --prefix      prefix for the OpenSSL include, lib and bin directories
-#               (Default: the OPENSSLDIR directory)
+# --prefix      prefix for the OpenSSL installation, which includes the
+#               directories bin, lib, include, share/man, share/doc/openssl
+#               This becomes the value of INSTALLTOP in Makefile
+#               (Default: /usr/local)
+# --openssldir  OpenSSL data area, such as openssl.cnf, certificates and keys.
+#               If it's a relative directory, it will be added on the directory
+#               given with --prefix.
+#               This becomes the value of OPENSSLDIR in Makefile and in C.
+#               (Default: PREFIX/ssl)
 #
 # --install_prefix  Additional prefix for package builders (empty by
 #               default).  This needn't be set in advance, you can
@@ -1056,8 +1061,6 @@ my $IsMK1MF=scalar grep /^$target$/,@MK1MF_Builds;
 $exe_ext=".exe" if ($target eq "Cygwin" || $target eq "DJGPP" || $target =~ /^mingw/);
 $exe_ext=".nlm" if ($target =~ /netware/);
 $exe_ext=".pm"  if ($target =~ /vos/);
-$openssldir="/usr/local/ssl" if ($openssldir eq "" and $prefix eq "");
-$prefix=$openssldir if $prefix eq "";
 
 $default_ranlib= &which("ranlib") or $default_ranlib="true";
 $perl=$ENV{'PERL'} or $perl=&which("perl5") or $perl=&which("perl")
@@ -1066,11 +1069,10 @@ my $make = $ENV{'MAKE'} || "make";
 
 $cross_compile_prefix=$ENV{'CROSS_COMPILE'} if $cross_compile_prefix eq "";
 
-chop $openssldir if $openssldir =~ /\/$/;
-chop $prefix if $prefix =~ /.\/$/;
-
-$openssldir=$prefix . "/ssl" if $openssldir eq "";
-$openssldir=$prefix . "/" . $openssldir if $openssldir !~ /(^\/|^[a-zA-Z]:[\\\/])/;
+$prefix = "/usr/local" if !$prefix;
+$openssldir = "ssl" if !$openssldir;
+$openssldir = catdir($prefix, $openssldir)
+    unless file_name_is_absolute($openssldir);
 
 
 print "IsMK1MF=$IsMK1MF\n";
diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index 6c74a704a3..47ce7c0b8b 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -24,10 +24,11 @@ HERE=.
 # for, say, /usr/ and yet have everything installed to /tmp/somedir/usr/.
 # Normally it is left empty.
 INSTALL_PREFIX=
-INSTALLTOP=/usr/local/ssl
 
-# Do not edit this manually. Use Configure --openssldir=DIR to change this!
-OPENSSLDIR=/usr/local/ssl
+# Do not edit these manually. Use Configure with --prefix or --openssldir
+# to change this!  Short explanation in the top comment in Configure
+INSTALLTOP=/usr/local
+OPENSSLDIR=$(INSTALLTOP)/ssl
 
 # NO_IDEA - Define to build without the IDEA algorithm
 # NO_RC4  - Define to build without the RC4 algorithm
@@ -153,12 +154,12 @@ TESTS = alltests
 
 MAKEFILE= Makefile
 
-MANDIR=$(OPENSSLDIR)/man
+MANDIR=$(INSTALLTOP)/share/man
 MAN1=1
 MAN3=3
 MANSUFFIX=
 HTMLSUFFIX=html
-HTMLDIR=$(OPENSSLDIR)/html
+HTMLDIR=$(INSTALLTOP)/share/doc/$(BASENAME)/html
 SHELL=/bin/sh
 
 TOP=    .
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 1909555874..1db633c6d7 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@
       o Application software can be compiled with -DOPENSSL_API_COMPAT=version
         to ensure that features deprecated in that version are not exposed.
       o Support for RFC6698/RFC7671 DANE TLSA peer authentication
+      o Change of Configure to use --prefix as the main installation
+        directory location rather than --openssldir.  The latter becomes
+        the directory for certs, private key and openssl.cnf exclusively.
 
   Major changes between OpenSSL 1.0.2d and OpenSSL 1.0.2e [3 Dec 2015]
 
diff --git a/util/mk1mf.pl b/util/mk1mf.pl
index 490df2891d..6cece33e8e 100755
--- a/util/mk1mf.pl
+++ b/util/mk1mf.pl
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 use Cwd;
 
-$INSTALLTOP="/usr/local/ssl";
+$INSTALLTOP="/usr/local";
 $OPENSSLDIR="/usr/local/ssl";
 $OPTIONS="";
 $ssl_version="";