diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 67c4a9d9..3570d32d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -84,13 +84,6 @@ INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(
 	${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
 )
 
-# Automatically set lib suffix
-IF(UNIX AND NOT APPLE AND NOT CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING AND NOT EXISTS "/etc/debian_version")
-	IF(CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P EQUAL 8 AND NOT LIB_SUFFIX)
-		SET(LIB_SUFFIX 64)
-	ENDIF()
-ENDIF()
-
 # Shared library
 OPTION(
 	VMIME_BUILD_SHARED_LIBRARY
@@ -159,20 +152,55 @@ ENDIF()
 
 SET(CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR lib CACHE PATH "Output directory for libraries")
 
+# Automatically set lib suffix
+IF(UNIX AND NOT APPLE AND NOT CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING AND NOT EXISTS "/etc/debian_version")
+	IF(CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P EQUAL 8 AND NOT LIB_SUFFIX)
+		# ...only if LIB_SUFFIX is not defined...
+		IF(NOT DEFINED LIB_SUFFIX)
+			# ...and if CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR does not already contain the suffix
+			IF(NOT "${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}" MATCHES ".*64.*")
+				SET(LIB_SUFFIX 64)
+			ENDIF()
+		ENDIF()
+	ENDIF()
+ENDIF()
+
+# Determine library installation dir, in this order:
+#   1) use VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR if set
+#   2) use LIB_INSTALL_DIR if defined
+#   3) use CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR if set
+#      if it is a relative path, prepend CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX to it
+#   4) use CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX/lib
+IF(NOT DEFINED VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR)
+	IF(DEFINED LIB_INSTALL_DIR)
+		SET(VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR ${LIB_INSTALL_DIR})
+	# respect CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR if set
+	ELSEIF(DEFINED CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR)
+		SET(VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
+		IF(IS_ABSOLUTE ${VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
+			SET(VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}${LIB_SUFFIX})
+		ELSE()
+			SET(VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}${LIB_SUFFIX})
+		ENDIF()
+	ELSE()
+		SET(VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/lib${LIB_SUFFIX})
+	ENDIF()
+ENDIF()
+
 # Installation of libraries
 IF(VMIME_BUILD_SHARED_LIBRARY)
 	INSTALL(
 		TARGETS ${VMIME_LIBRARY_NAME}
-		LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR} COMPONENT sharedlibs
-		ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR} COMPONENT sharedlibs
+		LIBRARY DESTINATION "${VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR}" COMPONENT sharedlibs
+		ARCHIVE DESTINATION "${VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR}" COMPONENT sharedlibs
 	)
 ENDIF()
 
 IF(VMIME_BUILD_STATIC_LIBRARY)
 	INSTALL(
 		TARGETS ${VMIME_LIBRARY_NAME}-static
-		LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR} COMPONENT staticlibs
-		ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR} COMPONENT staticlibs
+		LIBRARY DESTINATION "${VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR}" COMPONENT staticlibs
+		ARCHIVE DESTINATION "${VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR}" COMPONENT staticlibs
 	)
 ENDIF()
 
@@ -327,18 +355,12 @@ ADD_CUSTOM_TARGET(
 SET(prefix      ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX})
 SET(exec_prefix ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin)
 SET(includedir  ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/include/vmime)
+SET(libdir      ${VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
 
 SET(VMIME_PKGCONFIG_LIBS     "")
 SET(VMIME_PKGCONFIG_CFLAGS   "")
 SET(VMIME_PKGCONFIG_REQUIRES "")
 
-IF(${UNIX})
-	SET(libdir ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/lib${LIB_SUFFIX})
-ENDIF(${UNIX})
-IF(${WIN32})
-	SET(libdir ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin)
-ENDIF(${WIN32})
-
 
 ##############################################################################
 # Build type
@@ -810,7 +832,7 @@ CONFIGURE_FILE(cmake/config.hpp.cmake ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/vmime/config.hpp)
 
 # PkgConfig post-configuration
 CONFIGURE_FILE(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/libvmime.pc.in ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libvmime.pc @ONLY)
-INSTALL(FILES ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libvmime.pc DESTINATION lib${LIB_SUFFIX}/pkgconfig COMPONENT headers)
+INSTALL(FILES ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libvmime.pc DESTINATION "${VMIME_INSTALL_LIBDIR}/pkgconfig" COMPONENT headers)
 
 INCLUDE(CPack)