diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 97d389d7c..e5477b630 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,9 +1,15 @@
 # Config options
 PROFILE         ?= debug
+ifneq (,$(filter install, $(MAKECMDGOALS)))
+override PROFILE:=release
+override BUILD:=INSTALL
+override DONT_BUILD:=DONT_INSTALL
+endif
+
 MULTICALL       ?= n
 
 PROFILE_CMD :=
-ifeq (${PROFILE},release)
+ifeq ($(PROFILE),release)
 	PROFILE_CMD = --release
 endif
 
@@ -12,11 +18,16 @@ CARGO  ?= cargo
 CARGOFLAGS ?=
 
 # Install directories
+FS_ROOT ?= /
 PREFIX ?= /usr/local
 BINDIR ?= /bin
 LIBDIR ?= /lib
 
-INSTALLDIR=$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)
+INSTALLDIR_BIN=$(FS_ROOT)$(PREFIX)$(BINDIR)
+INSTALLDIR_LIB=$(FS_ROOT)$(PREFIX)$(LIBDIR)
+
+#prefix to apply to uutils binary and all tool binaries
+PROG_PREFIX ?=
 
 # This won't support any directory with spaces in its name, but you can just
 # make a symlink without spaces that points to the directory.
@@ -189,11 +200,11 @@ endef
 EXES        := \
   $(sort $(filter $(BUILD),$(filter-out $(DONT_BUILD),$(PROGS))))
 
+INSTALL     ?= $(EXES)
+
 INSTALLEES  := \
   $(sort $(filter $(INSTALL),$(filter-out $(DONT_INSTALL),$(EXES) uutils)))
 
-INSTALL     ?= $(EXES)
-
 # Shared library extension
 SYSTEM := $(shell uname)
 DYLIB_EXT :=
@@ -261,26 +272,24 @@ distclean: clean
 	$(CARGO) clean $(CARGOFLAGS) && $(CARGO) update $(CARGOFLAGS)
 
 # TODO: figure out if there is way for prefixes to work with the symlinks
-install: build
-	PROFILE_CMD=--release
-	mkdir -p $(INSTALLDIR)$(BINDIR)
+install: build 
+	mkdir -p $(INSTALLDIR_BIN)
+	rm -f $(addprefix $(INSTALLDIR_BIN)/$(PROG_PREFIX),$(INSTALLEES))
 ifeq (${MULTICALL}, y)
-	install $(BUILDDIR)/uutils $(INSTALLDIR)$(BINDIR)/$(PROG_PREFIX)uutils
-	cd $(INSTALLDIR)$(BINDIR)
-	$(foreach prog, $(INSTALLEES), ln -s $(PROG_PREFIX)uutils $$prog;)
+	install $(BUILDDIR)/uutils $(INSTALLDIR_BIN)/$(PROG_PREFIX)uutils
+	$(foreach prog, $(INSTALLEES), cd $(INSTALLDIR_BIN) && ln -s $(PROG_PREFIX)uutils $(PROG_PREFIX)$(prog);)
 else
-	$(foreach prog, $(INSTALLEES); \
-		install $(PKG_BUILDDIR)/$$prog $(INSTALLDIR)$(BINDIR)/$(PROG_PREFIX)$$prog;)
+	$(foreach prog, $(INSTALLEES), \
+		install $(PKG_BUILDDIR)/$(prog) $(INSTALLDIR_BIN)/$(PROG_PREFIX)$(prog);)
 endif
-	mkdir -p $(INSTALLDIR)$(LIBDIR)
-	$(foreach lib, $(LIBS), install $(BUILDDIR)/$$lib $(INSTALLDIR)$(LIBDIR)/$$lib;)
+	mkdir -p $(INSTALLDIR_LIB)
+	$(foreach lib, $(LIBS), install $(BUILDDIR)/$$lib $(INSTALLDIR_LIB)/$(lib);)
 
 uninstall:
-	rm -f $(addprefix $(INSTALLDIR)$(BINDIR)/$(PROG_PREFIX),$(PROGS))
-	rm -f $(addprefix $(INSTALLDIR)$(LIBDIR)/,$(LIBS))
-
-uninstall-multicall:
-	rm -f $(addprefix $(INSTALLDIR)$(BINDIR)/,$(PROGS) $(PROG_PREFIX)uutils)
-	rm -f $(addprefix $(INSTALLDIR)$(LIBDIR)/,$(LIBS))
+ifeq (${MULTICALL}, y)
+	rm -f $(addprefix $(INSTALLDIR_BIN)/,$(PROG_PREFIX)uutils)
+endif
+	rm -f $(addprefix $(INSTALLDIR_BIN)/$(PROG_PREFIX),$(PROGS))
+	rm -f $(addprefix $(INSTALLDIR_LIB)/,$(LIBS))
 
 .PHONY: all build test distclean clean busytest install uninstall
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2675aa74d..7125ce710 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -64,14 +64,19 @@ To install only a few of the available utilities:
 make INSTALL='UTILITY_1 UTILITY_2' install
 ```
 
-To install every program with a prefix:
+To install every program with a prefix (e.g. uu-echo uu-cat):
 ```
 make PROG_PREFIX=PREFIX_GOES_HERE install
 ```
 
 To install the multicall binary:
 ```
-make install-multicall
+make MULTICALL=y install
+```
+
+Set install parent directory (default value is /usr/local):
+```
+make PREFIX=/my/path install
 ```
 
 Uninstallation Instructions
@@ -89,7 +94,12 @@ make PROG_PREFIX=PREFIX_GOES_HERE uninstall
 
 To uninstall the multicall binary:
 ```
-make uninstall-multicall
+make MULTICALL=y uninstall
+```
+
+To uninstall from a custom parent directory:
+```
+make PREFIX=/my/path uninstall
 ```
 
 Test Instructions
diff --git a/src/uutils/uutils.rs b/src/uutils/uutils.rs
index de335b6f2..69bafedd5 100644
--- a/src/uutils/uutils.rs
+++ b/src/uutils/uutils.rs
@@ -49,14 +49,26 @@ fn main() {
         None => (),
     }
 
-    if !(binary_as_util.ends_with("uutils") || binary_as_util.starts_with("uutils")) {
-        println!("{}: applet not found", binary_as_util);
-        std::process::exit(1);
+    if binary_as_util.ends_with("uutils") || binary_as_util.starts_with("uutils") {
+        args.remove(0);
+    } else {
+        let mut found = false;
+        for util in umap.keys() {
+            if binary_as_util.ends_with(util) {
+                args[0] = util.clone().to_owned();
+                found = true;
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        if ! found {
+            println!("{}: applet not found", binary_as_util);
+            std::process::exit(1);
+        }
     }
 
     // try first arg as util name.
-    if args.len() >= 2 {
-        args.remove(0);
+    if args.len() >= 1 {
+
         let util = &args[0][..];
 
         match umap.get(util) {