diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 450e931c6e..5717c3dacb 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ CLEANFILES =
 
 EXTRA_DIST =
 
-pkglibexecdir = $(libexecdir)/bluetooth
+pkglibexecdir = @PKGLIBEXECDIR@
 
 pkglibexec_PROGRAMS =
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 70e9d4be81..bb6380f2f4 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -401,6 +401,24 @@ if (test "${prefix}" = "NONE"); then
 	prefix="${ac_default_prefix}"
 fi
 
+if (test "${exec_prefix}" = "NONE"); then
+	# exec_prefix defaults to prefix, although our manual handling of the
+	# latter (above) confuses autoconf. Manually set the exec_prefix.
+	exec_prefix="${prefix}"
+fi
+
+# Expand any variables containing relative references like ${prefix} and co.
+#
+# Otherwise we'll end up with literal references in the final binaries or
+# manuals, which is not something we really want.
+
+if (test "$libexecdir" = '${exec_prefix}/libexec'); then
+	pkglibexecdir="${exec_prefix}/libexec/bluetooth"
+else
+	pkglibexecdir="${libexecdir}/bluetooth"
+fi
+AC_SUBST(PKGLIBEXECDIR, "${pkglibexecdir}")
+
 if (test "$localstatedir" = '${prefix}/var'); then
 	storagedir="${prefix}/var/lib/bluetooth"
 else
diff --git a/mesh/bluetooth-mesh.service.in b/mesh/bluetooth-mesh.service.in
index 9c3ff01a3e..899ef107b8 100644
--- a/mesh/bluetooth-mesh.service.in
+++ b/mesh/bluetooth-mesh.service.in
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ ConditionPathIsDirectory=/sys/class/bluetooth
 [Service]
 Type=dbus
 BusName=org.bluez.mesh
-ExecStart=@exec_prefix@/bluetooth/bluetooth-meshd
+ExecStart=@PKGLIBEXECDIR@/bluetooth-meshd
 NotifyAccess=main
 LimitNPROC=1
 ProtectHome=true
diff --git a/obexd/src/obex.service.in b/obexd/src/obex.service.in
index 03d09a679d..cf4d8c9850 100644
--- a/obexd/src/obex.service.in
+++ b/obexd/src/obex.service.in
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Description=Bluetooth OBEX service
 [Service]
 Type=dbus
 BusName=org.bluez.obex
-ExecStart=@exec_prefix@/bluetooth/obexd
+ExecStart=@PKGLIBEXECDIR@/obexd
 
 [Install]
 Alias=dbus-org.bluez.obex.service
diff --git a/obexd/src/org.bluez.obex.service.in b/obexd/src/org.bluez.obex.service.in
index 14c16d3e3c..873b9d1fd9 100644
--- a/obexd/src/org.bluez.obex.service.in
+++ b/obexd/src/org.bluez.obex.service.in
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 [D-BUS Service]
 Name=org.bluez.obex
-Exec=@exec_prefix@/bluetooth/obexd
+Exec=@PKGLIBEXECDIR@/obexd
 SystemdService=dbus-org.bluez.obex.service
diff --git a/src/bluetooth.service.in b/src/bluetooth.service.in
index 63e1575875..8ebe89bec6 100644
--- a/src/bluetooth.service.in
+++ b/src/bluetooth.service.in
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ ConditionPathIsDirectory=/sys/class/bluetooth
 [Service]
 Type=dbus
 BusName=org.bluez
-ExecStart=@exec_prefix@/bluetooth/bluetoothd
+ExecStart=@PKGLIBEXECDIR@/bluetoothd
 NotifyAccess=main
 #WatchdogSec=10
 #Restart=on-failure
diff --git a/tools/bluetooth-logger.service.in b/tools/bluetooth-logger.service.in
index 5657c8d84b..d6df676b86 100644
--- a/tools/bluetooth-logger.service.in
+++ b/tools/bluetooth-logger.service.in
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ ConditionPathIsDirectory=/sys/class/bluetooth
 
 [Service]
 Type=simple
-ExecStart=@exec_prefix@/bluetooth/btmon-logger -p -b /var/log/bluetooth/hci.log
+ExecStart=@PKGLIBEXECDIR@/btmon-logger -p -b /var/log/bluetooth/hci.log
 NotifyAccess=main
 CapabilityBoundingSet=CAP_NET_RAW
 LimitNPROC=1