diff --git a/src/runtime/Makefile b/src/runtime/Makefile
index 690755f2ae..0c03b7065f 100644
--- a/src/runtime/Makefile
+++ b/src/runtime/Makefile
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ NETMON_TARGET = $(PROJECT_TYPE)-netmon
 NETMON_TARGET_OUTPUT = $(CURDIR)/$(NETMON_TARGET)
 BINLIBEXECLIST += $(NETMON_TARGET)
 
-DESTDIR := /
+DESTDIR ?= /
 
 ifeq ($(PREFIX),)
 PREFIX        := /usr