diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 568316b2fd..5362cc798f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -64,7 +64,11 @@ set(CMAKE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES_PROJECT_BEFORE ON)
 
 set(PDAL_OUTPUT_LIB_DIR "${PDAL_BINARY_DIR}/${PDAL_LIB_INSTALL_DIR}")
 set(PDAL_OUTPUT_BIN_DIR "${PDAL_BINARY_DIR}/${PDAL_BIN_INSTALL_DIR}")
-set(PDAL_PLUGIN_INSTALL_PATH "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/${PDAL_LIB_INSTALL_DIR}")
+
+# allow override of PDAL_PLUGIN_INSTALL_PATH path
+if (NOT PDAL_PLUGIN_INSTALL_PATH)
+    set(PDAL_PLUGIN_INSTALL_PATH "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/${PDAL_LIB_INSTALL_DIR}")
+endif()
 file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${PDAL_OUTPUT_LIB_DIR}")
 file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${PDAL_OUTPUT_BIN_DIR}")