diff --git a/src/CHANGELOG b/src/CHANGELOG
index 61ef370bb..44f78ecff 100644
--- a/src/CHANGELOG
+++ b/src/CHANGELOG
@@ -6,6 +6,13 @@ ECL 9.8.2:
  - The C inline expansion for sin, cos, and tan were wrong due to three
    recently introduced typos.
 
+* Visible changes:
+
+ - A new configuration flag, --enable-rpath, allows hardcoding in ECL the
+   location of its shared library. This is not needed in Windows, it should
+   work on all supported platforms and its purpose is to simplify the
+   installation of ECL in nonstandard locations.
+
 
 ECL 9.8.1:
 ==========
diff --git a/src/aclocal.m4 b/src/aclocal.m4
index 7a7067a27..50b8d4d09 100644
--- a/src/aclocal.m4
+++ b/src/aclocal.m4
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ AC_SUBST(SOFTWARE_TYPE)dnl	Type of operating system
 AC_SUBST(SOFTWARE_VERSION)dnl	Version number of operating system
 AC_SUBST(MACHINE_VERSION)dnl	Version of the machine
 
-AC_SUBST(LDRPATH)dnl	Sometimes the path for finding DLLs must be hardcoded.
+AC_SUBST(ECL_LDRPATH)dnl	Sometimes the path for finding DLLs must be hardcoded.
 AC_SUBST(LIBPREFIX)dnl	Name components of a statically linked library
 AC_SUBST(LIBEXT)
 AC_SUBST(SHAREDEXT)dnl	Name components of a dynamically linked library
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ AC_SUBST(OBJEXT)dnl	These are set by autoconf
 AC_SUBST(EXEEXT)
 AC_SUBST(INSTALL_TARGET)dnl Which type of installation: flat directory or unix like.
 AC_SUBST(thehost)
-LDRPATH='~*'
+ECL_LDRPATH=''
 SHAREDEXT='so'
 SHAREDPREFIX='lib'
 LIBPREFIX='lib'
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_LIBS='-lpthread'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH='-Wl,--rpath,~A'
+		ECL_LDRPATH='-Wl,--rpath,~A'
 		clibs="-ldl"
 		# Maybe CFLAGS="-D_ISOC99_SOURCE ${CFLAGS}" ???
 		CFLAGS="-D_GNU_SOURCE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 ${CFLAGS}"
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_LIBS='-lpthread'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH='-Wl,--rpath,~A'
+		ECL_LDRPATH='-Wl,--rpath,~A'
 		clibs="-ldl"
 		CFLAGS="-D_GNU_SOURCE ${CFLAGS}"
 		SONAME="${SHAREDPREFIX}ecl.${SHAREDEXT}.SOVERSION"
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_LIBS='-lpthread'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH='-Wl,--rpath,~A'
+		ECL_LDRPATH='-Wl,--rpath,~A'
 		clibs="-ldl"
 		CFLAGS="-D_GNU_SOURCE ${CFLAGS}"
 		SONAME="${SHAREDPREFIX}ecl.${SHAREDEXT}.SOVERSION"
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_LIBS='-lpthread'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH="-Wl,--rpath,~A"
+		ECL_LDRPATH="-Wl,--rpath,~A"
 		clibs=""
 		SONAME="${SHAREDPREFIX}ecl.${SHAREDEXT}.SOVERSION"
 		SONAME_LDFLAGS="-Wl,-soname,SONAME"
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_LIBS='-lpthread'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH="-Wl,--rpath,~A"
+		ECL_LDRPATH="-Wl,--rpath,~A"
 		clibs=""
 		SONAME="${SHAREDPREFIX}ecl.${SHAREDEXT}.SOVERSION"
 		SONAME_LDFLAGS="-Wl,-soname,SONAME"
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_LIBS=''
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH="-Wl,--rpath,~A"
+		ECL_LDRPATH="-Wl,--rpath,~A"
 		clibs="-lpthread -lm"
 		SONAME="${SHAREDPREFIX}ecl.${SHAREDEXT}.SOVERSION"
 		SONAME_LDFLAGS="-Wl,-soname,SONAME"
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		thehost='sun4sol2'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-dy -G ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-dy -G ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH='-Wl,-R,~A'
+		ECL_LDRPATH='-Wl,-R,~A'
 		TCPLIBS='-lsocket -lnsl -lintl'
 		clibs='-ldl'
 		CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -std=gnu99"
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		PICFLAG='-fPIC -fno-common'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-dynamiclib -flat_namespace -undefined suppress ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-bundle ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH=''
+		ECL_LDRPATH=''
 		THREAD_CFLAGS='-D_THREAD_SAFE'
 		THREAD_LIBS='-lpthread'
 		# The GMP library has not yet been ported to Intel-OSX
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_CFLAGS='-spthread'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH='-Wld=\"-rld_l ~A\"'
+		ECL_LDRPATH='-Wld=\"-rld_l ~A\"'
 		clibs="-Wld=-lrld"
 		;;
 	*)
diff --git a/src/cmp/cmpdefs.lsp b/src/cmp/cmpdefs.lsp
index a64f694b8..d55f94b8b 100644
--- a/src/cmp/cmpdefs.lsp
+++ b/src/cmp/cmpdefs.lsp
@@ -452,11 +452,11 @@ coprocessor).")
 (defvar *cc-optimize* #-msvc "-O"
                       #+msvc "@CFLAGS_OPTIMIZE@")
 
-(defvar *ld-format* #-msvc "~A -o ~S -L~S ~{~S ~} ~A"
-                    #+msvc "~A -Fe~S~* ~{~S ~} ~A")
+(defvar *ld-format* #-msvc "~A -o ~S -L~S ~{~S ~} ~@[~S~] ~A"
+                    #+msvc "~A -Fe~S~* ~{~S ~} ~@[~S~] ~A")
 
-(defvar *cc-format* #-msvc "~A ~A ~:[~*~;~A~] \"-I~A\" -w -c \"~A\" -o \"~A\""
-                    #+msvc "~A ~A ~:[~*~;~A~] -I\"~A\" -w -c \"~A\" -Fo\"~A\"")
+(defvar *cc-format* #-msvc "~A \"-I~A\" ~A ~:[~*~;~A~] -w -c \"~A\" -o \"~A\""
+                    #+msvc "~A -I\"~A\" ~A ~:[~*~;~A~] -w -c \"~A\" -Fo\"~A\"")
 
 #-dlopen
 (defvar *ld-flags* "@LDFLAGS@ -lecl @CORE_LIBS@ @FASL_LIBS@ @LIBS@")
@@ -482,6 +482,11 @@ coprocessor).")
 (defvar *ecl-include-directory* @includedir\@)
 (defvar *ecl-library-directory* @libdir\@)
 
+(defvar *ld-rpath*
+  (let ((x "@ECL_LDRPATH@"))
+    (and (plusp (length x))
+         (format nil x *ecl-library-directory*))))
+
 ;;;
 ;;; Compiler program and flags.
 ;;;
diff --git a/src/cmp/cmpmain.lsp b/src/cmp/cmpmain.lsp
index d622e42af..df17dbdd6 100644
--- a/src/cmp/cmpmain.lsp
+++ b/src/cmp/cmpmain.lsp
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@
 	   (si::coerce-to-filename o-pathname)
 	   (fix-for-mingw (ecl-library-directory))
 	   options
+           *ld-rpath*
 	   *ld-flags*)))
 
 #+dlopen
@@ -102,15 +103,17 @@
 	   (si::coerce-to-filename o-pathname)
 	   (fix-for-mingw (ecl-library-directory))
 	   options
+           *ld-rpath*
 	   *ld-shared-flags*))
   #+(or mingw32)
   (let ((lib-file (compile-file-pathname o-pathname :type :lib)))
     (safe-system
      (format nil
-	     "gcc -shared -o ~S -L~S ~{~S ~} ~@?"
+	     "gcc -shared -o ~S -L~S ~{~S ~} ~@[~S~] ~@?"
 	     (si::coerce-to-filename o-pathname)
 	     (fix-for-mingw (ecl-library-directory))
 	     options
+             *ld-rpath*
 	     *ld-shared-flags*))))
 
 #+dlopen
@@ -123,6 +126,7 @@
 	   (si::coerce-to-filename o-pathname)
 	   (fix-for-mingw (ecl-library-directory))
 	   options
+           *ld-rpath*
 	   #-msvc *ld-bundle-flags*
 	   #+msvc (concatenate 'string *ld-bundle-flags*
 			       " /EXPORT:" init-name
@@ -134,10 +138,11 @@
   #+(or mingw32)
   (safe-system
    (format nil
-	   "gcc -shared -o ~A -Wl,--export-all-symbols -L~S ~{~S ~} ~A"
+	   "gcc -shared -o ~A -Wl,--export-all-symbols -L~S ~{~S ~} ~@[~S~] ~A"
 	   (si::coerce-to-filename o-pathname)
 	   (fix-for-mingw (ecl-library-directory))
 	   options
+           *ld-rpath*
 	   *ld-bundle-flags*)))
 
 (defconstant +lisp-program-header+ "
@@ -850,8 +855,9 @@ from the C language code.  NIL means \"do not create the file\"."
   (safe-system
    (format nil
 	   *cc-format*
-	   *cc* *cc-flags* (>= (cmp-env-optimization 'speed) 2) *cc-optimize*
-	   (fix-for-mingw (ecl-include-directory))
+	   *cc*
+           (fix-for-mingw (ecl-include-directory))
+	   *cc-flags* (>= (cmp-env-optimization 'speed) 2) *cc-optimize*
 	   (si::coerce-to-filename c-pathname)
 	   (si::coerce-to-filename o-pathname))
 ; Since the SUN4 assembler loops with big files, you might want to use this:
diff --git a/src/configure b/src/configure
index 85d4016c1..95b6ddb89 100755
--- a/src/configure
+++ b/src/configure
@@ -671,7 +671,7 @@ SHAREDPREFIX
 SHAREDEXT
 LIBEXT
 LIBPREFIX
-LDRPATH
+ECL_LDRPATH
 MACHINE_VERSION
 SOFTWARE_VERSION
 SOFTWARE_TYPE
@@ -764,6 +764,7 @@ ac_user_opts='
 enable_option_checking
 with_cross_config
 enable_shared
+enable_rpath
 enable_threads
 enable_boehm
 enable_slow_config
@@ -1446,6 +1447,8 @@ Optional Features:
   --disable-FEATURE       do not include FEATURE (same as --enable-FEATURE=no)
   --enable-FEATURE[=ARG]  include FEATURE [ARG=yes]
   --enable-shared         enable loading compiled files (default=YES)
+  --enable-rpath          hard-code the location of the ECL shared library.
+                          (no|yes, default=NO)
   --enable-threads        support for native threads (yes|no|auto,
                           default=NO).
   --enable-boehm          use the Boehm-Weiser garbage collector
@@ -2031,6 +2034,14 @@ else
 fi
 
 
+# Check whether --enable-rpath was given.
+if test "${enable_rpath+set}" = set; then
+  enableval=$enable_rpath;
+else
+  enable_rpath=no
+fi
+
+
 # Check whether --enable-threads was given.
 if test "${enable_threads+set}" = set; then
   enableval=$enable_threads;
@@ -4359,7 +4370,7 @@ MV="mv"
 
 
 
-LDRPATH='~*'
+ECL_LDRPATH=''
 SHAREDEXT='so'
 SHAREDPREFIX='lib'
 LIBPREFIX='lib'
@@ -4381,7 +4392,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_LIBS='-lpthread'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH='-Wl,--rpath,~A'
+		ECL_LDRPATH='-Wl,--rpath,~A'
 		clibs="-ldl"
 		# Maybe CFLAGS="-D_ISOC99_SOURCE ${CFLAGS}" ???
 		CFLAGS="-D_GNU_SOURCE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 ${CFLAGS}"
@@ -4394,7 +4405,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_LIBS='-lpthread'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH='-Wl,--rpath,~A'
+		ECL_LDRPATH='-Wl,--rpath,~A'
 		clibs="-ldl"
 		CFLAGS="-D_GNU_SOURCE ${CFLAGS}"
 		SONAME="${SHAREDPREFIX}ecl.${SHAREDEXT}.SOVERSION"
@@ -4406,7 +4417,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_LIBS='-lpthread'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH='-Wl,--rpath,~A'
+		ECL_LDRPATH='-Wl,--rpath,~A'
 		clibs="-ldl"
 		CFLAGS="-D_GNU_SOURCE ${CFLAGS}"
 		SONAME="${SHAREDPREFIX}ecl.${SHAREDEXT}.SOVERSION"
@@ -4417,7 +4428,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_LIBS='-lpthread'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH="-Wl,--rpath,~A"
+		ECL_LDRPATH="-Wl,--rpath,~A"
 		clibs=""
 		SONAME="${SHAREDPREFIX}ecl.${SHAREDEXT}.SOVERSION"
 		SONAME_LDFLAGS="-Wl,-soname,SONAME"
@@ -4427,7 +4438,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_LIBS='-lpthread'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH="-Wl,--rpath,~A"
+		ECL_LDRPATH="-Wl,--rpath,~A"
 		clibs=""
 		SONAME="${SHAREDPREFIX}ecl.${SHAREDEXT}.SOVERSION"
 		SONAME_LDFLAGS="-Wl,-soname,SONAME"
@@ -4438,7 +4449,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_LIBS=''
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH="-Wl,--rpath,~A"
+		ECL_LDRPATH="-Wl,--rpath,~A"
 		clibs="-lpthread -lm"
 		SONAME="${SHAREDPREFIX}ecl.${SHAREDEXT}.SOVERSION"
 		SONAME_LDFLAGS="-Wl,-soname,SONAME"
@@ -4447,7 +4458,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		thehost='sun4sol2'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-dy -G ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-dy -G ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH='-Wl,-R,~A'
+		ECL_LDRPATH='-Wl,-R,~A'
 		TCPLIBS='-lsocket -lnsl -lintl'
 		clibs='-ldl'
 		CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -std=gnu99"
@@ -4484,7 +4495,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		PICFLAG='-fPIC -fno-common'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-dynamiclib -flat_namespace -undefined suppress ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-bundle ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH=''
+		ECL_LDRPATH=''
 		THREAD_CFLAGS='-D_THREAD_SAFE'
 		THREAD_LIBS='-lpthread'
 		# The GMP library has not yet been ported to Intel-OSX
@@ -4509,7 +4520,7 @@ case "${host_os}" in
 		THREAD_CFLAGS='-spthread'
 		SHARED_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
 		BUNDLE_LDFLAGS="-shared ${LDFLAGS}"
-		LDRPATH='-Wld=\"-rld_l ~A\"'
+		ECL_LDRPATH='-Wld=\"-rld_l ~A\"'
 		clibs="-Wld=-lrld"
 		;;
 	*)
@@ -12972,7 +12983,11 @@ LSP_FEATURES="(cons :wants-dlopen ${LSP_FEATURES})"
 else
   enable_soname=no
   LSP_LIBRARIES="${LIBPREFIX}ecl.${LIBEXT}"
-  LDRPATH='~*'
+  ECL_LDRPATH=''
+fi
+
+if test "x${enable_rpath}" = "xno"; then
+  ECL_LDRPATH=''
 fi
 
 if test "${with_cmuformat}" = "yes"; then
diff --git a/src/configure.in b/src/configure.in
index 9c009cc2d..0d5438b9d 100644
--- a/src/configure.in
+++ b/src/configure.in
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE(shared,
                   [enable loading compiled files (default=YES)]),
   [], [enable_shared=yes])
 
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(rpath,
+  AS_HELP_STRING( [--enable-rpath],
+		  [hard-code the location of the ECL shared library.]
+		  [(no|yes, default=NO)]),
+  [], [enable_rpath=no] )
+
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(threads,
   AS_HELP_STRING( [--enable-threads],
                   [support for native threads (yes|no|auto, default=NO).]),
@@ -634,7 +640,11 @@ if test ${enable_shared} = "yes"; then
 else
   enable_soname=no
   LSP_LIBRARIES="${LIBPREFIX}ecl.${LIBEXT}"
-  LDRPATH='~*'
+  ECL_LDRPATH=''
+fi
+
+if test "x${enable_rpath}" = "xno"; then
+  ECL_LDRPATH=''
 fi
 
 if test "${with_cmuformat}" = "yes"; then