diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1a60afccbeee..1f02e940c27a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,3 +11,5 @@ npm-debug.log
 # coverage
 .nyc_output
 coverage
+
+.DS_Store
diff --git a/bin/next-build b/bin/next-build
index 6a964540ec12..fcd1347aa9ac 100755
--- a/bin/next-build
+++ b/bin/next-build
@@ -22,8 +22,9 @@ if (argv.help) {
     Usage
       $ next build <dir>
 
-    <dir> represents where the compiled .next folder should go.
-    If no directory is provided, .next will be created in the current directory
+    <dir> represents where the compiled dist folder should go.
+    If no directory is provided, the dist folder will be created in the current directory.
+    You can set a custom folder in config https://github.com/zeit/next.js#custom-configuration, otherwise it will be created inside '.next'
   `)
   process.exit(0)
 }
diff --git a/bin/next-dev b/bin/next-dev
index d5055a3cf200..02dda15dec7f 100755
--- a/bin/next-dev
+++ b/bin/next-dev
@@ -29,8 +29,9 @@ if (argv.help) {
     Usage
       $ next dev <dir> -p <port number>
 
-    <dir> represents where the compiled .next folder should go.
-    If no directory is provided, .next will be created in the current directory
+    <dir> represents where the compiled folder should go.
+    If no directory is provided, the folder will be created in the current directory.
+    You can set a custom folder in config https://github.com/zeit/next.js#custom-configuration.
 
     Options
       --port, -p      A port number on which to start the application
diff --git a/bin/next-start b/bin/next-start
index 854a11e9b267..09d222315436 100755
--- a/bin/next-start
+++ b/bin/next-start
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { resolve } from 'path'
 import parseArgs from 'minimist'
 import Server from '../server'
 import { existsSync } from 'fs'
+import getConfig from '../server/config'
 
 process.env.NODE_ENV = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'production'
 
@@ -32,9 +33,10 @@ if (argv.help) {
     Usage
       $ next start <dir> -p <port>
 
-    <dir> is the directory that contains the compiled .next folder
+    <dir> is the directory that contains the compiled dist folder
     created by running \`next build\`.
     If no directory is provided, the current directory will be assumed.
+    You can set a custom dist folder in config https://github.com/zeit/next.js#custom-configuration
 
     Options
       --port, -p      A port number on which to start the application
@@ -45,11 +47,12 @@ if (argv.help) {
 }
 
 const dir = resolve(argv._[0] || '.')
+const dist = getConfig(dir).distDir
 
 const srv = new Server({ dir })
 
-if (!existsSync(resolve(dir, '.next', 'BUILD_ID'))) {
-  console.error(`> Could not find a valid build in the '.next' directory! Try building your app with 'next build' before starting the server.`)
+if (!existsSync(resolve(dir, dist, 'BUILD_ID'))) {
+  console.error(`> Could not find a valid build in the '${dist}' directory! Try building your app with 'next build' before starting the server.`)
   process.exit(1)
 }
 
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index d5bb023b6fe5..3f5c607b1b4c 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -630,6 +630,17 @@ module.exports = {
 }
 ```
 
+#### Setting a custom build directory
+
+You can specify a name to use for a custom build directory. For example, the following config will create a `build` folder instead of a `.next` folder. If no configuration is specified then next will create a `.next` folder.
+
+```javascript
+// next.config.js
+module.exports = {
+  distDir: 'build'
+}
+```
+
 ### Customizing webpack config
 
 In order to extend our usage of `webpack`, you can define a function that extends its config via `next.config.js`.
@@ -704,7 +715,7 @@ Then run `now` and enjoy!
 
 Next.js can be deployed to other hosting solutions too. Please have a look at the ['Deployment'](https://github.com/zeit/next.js/wiki/Deployment) section of the wiki.
 
-Note: we recommend putting `.next` in `.npmignore` or `.gitignore`. Otherwise, use `files` or `now.files` to opt-into a whitelist of files you want to deploy (and obviously exclude `.next`)
+Note: we recommend putting `.next`, or your custom dist folder (Please have a look at ['Custom Config'](You can set a custom folder in config https://github.com/zeit/next.js#custom-configuration.)), in `.npmignore` or `.gitignore`. Otherwise, use `files` or `now.files` to opt-into a whitelist of files you want to deploy (and obviously exclude `.next` or your custom dist folder)
 
 ## FAQ
 
diff --git a/server/build/clean.js b/server/build/clean.js
index f0d0876a47db..f108bd2568e3 100644
--- a/server/build/clean.js
+++ b/server/build/clean.js
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import { resolve } from 'path'
 import del from 'del'
+import getConfig from '../config'
 
 export default function clean (dir) {
-  return del(resolve(dir, '.next'))
+  const dist = getConfig(dir).distDir
+  return del(resolve(dir, dist))
 }
diff --git a/server/build/index.js b/server/build/index.js
index e13d36ff66f9..95195460e749 100644
--- a/server/build/index.js
+++ b/server/build/index.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { tmpdir } from 'os'
 import { join } from 'path'
+import getConfig from '../config'
 import fs from 'mz/fs'
 import uuid from 'uuid'
 import del from 'del'
@@ -13,8 +14,10 @@ export default async function build (dir) {
 
   try {
     await runCompiler(compiler)
-    await writeBuildStats(buildDir)
-    await writeBuildId(buildDir)
+
+    // Pass in both the buildDir and the dir to retrieve config
+    await writeBuildStats(buildDir, dir)
+    await writeBuildId(buildDir, dir)
   } catch (err) {
     console.error(`> Failed to build on ${buildDir}`)
     throw err
@@ -45,22 +48,24 @@ function runCompiler (compiler) {
   })
 }
 
-async function writeBuildStats (dir) {
+async function writeBuildStats (buildDir, dir) {
+  const dist = getConfig(dir).distDir
   // Here we can't use hashes in webpack chunks.
   // That's because the "app.js" is not tied to a chunk.
   // It's created by merging a few assets. (commons.js and main.js)
   // So, we need to generate the hash ourself.
   const assetHashMap = {
     'app.js': {
-      hash: await md5File(join(dir, '.next', 'app.js'))
+      hash: await md5File(join(buildDir, dist, 'app.js'))
     }
   }
-  const buildStatsPath = join(dir, '.next', 'build-stats.json')
+  const buildStatsPath = join(buildDir, dist, 'build-stats.json')
   await fs.writeFile(buildStatsPath, JSON.stringify(assetHashMap), 'utf8')
 }
 
-async function writeBuildId (dir) {
-  const buildIdPath = join(dir, '.next', 'BUILD_ID')
+async function writeBuildId (buildDir, dir) {
+  const dist = getConfig(dir).distDir
+  const buildIdPath = join(buildDir, dist, 'BUILD_ID')
   const buildId = uuid.v4()
   await fs.writeFile(buildIdPath, buildId, 'utf8')
 }
diff --git a/server/build/replace.js b/server/build/replace.js
index daf071647b65..1679ba25ad97 100644
--- a/server/build/replace.js
+++ b/server/build/replace.js
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 import mv from 'mv'
 import { join } from 'path'
+import getConfig from '../config'
 
 export default async function replaceCurrentBuild (dir, buildDir) {
-  const _dir = join(dir, '.next')
-  const _buildDir = join(buildDir, '.next')
-  const oldDir = join(buildDir, '.next.old')
+  const dist = getConfig(dir).distDir
+  const buildDist = getConfig(buildDir).distDir
+  const _dir = join(dir, dist)
+  const _buildDir = join(buildDir, dist)
+  const oldDir = join(buildDir, `${buildDist}.old`)
 
   try {
     await move(_dir, oldDir)
diff --git a/server/build/webpack.js b/server/build/webpack.js
index 804434a32d9f..5e9785edcd6a 100644
--- a/server/build/webpack.js
+++ b/server/build/webpack.js
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ export default async function createCompiler (dir, { dev = false, quiet = false,
     context: dir,
     entry,
     output: {
-      path: join(buildDir || dir, '.next'),
+      path: join(buildDir || dir, config.distDir),
       filename: '[name]',
       libraryTarget: 'commonjs2',
       publicPath: '/_webpack/',
diff --git a/server/config.js b/server/config.js
index 0c14009e40a1..5a70252cb941 100644
--- a/server/config.js
+++ b/server/config.js
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ const cache = new Map()
 
 const defaultConfig = {
   webpack: null,
-  poweredByHeader: true
+  poweredByHeader: true,
+  distDir: '.next'
 }
 
 export default function getConfig (dir) {
diff --git a/server/index.js b/server/index.js
index 17a45090cd73..75e4e7bf3d0d 100644
--- a/server/index.js
+++ b/server/index.js
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ export default class Server {
     this.hotReloader = dev ? new HotReloader(this.dir, { quiet }) : null
     this.http = null
     this.config = getConfig(this.dir)
-    this.buildStats = !dev ? require(join(this.dir, '.next', 'build-stats.json')) : null
+    this.dist = this.config.distDir
+    this.buildStats = !dev ? require(join(this.dir, this.dist, 'build-stats.json')) : null
     this.buildId = !dev ? this.readBuildId() : '-'
     this.renderOpts = {
       dev,
@@ -92,25 +93,25 @@ export default class Server {
 
       '/_next/:hash/manifest.js': async (req, res, params) => {
         this.handleBuildHash('manifest.js', params.hash, res)
-        const p = join(this.dir, '.next/manifest.js')
+        const p = join(this.dir, `${this.dist}/manifest.js`)
         await this.serveStatic(req, res, p)
       },
 
       '/_next/:hash/main.js': async (req, res, params) => {
         this.handleBuildHash('main.js', params.hash, res)
-        const p = join(this.dir, '.next/main.js')
+        const p = join(this.dir, `${this.dist}/main.js`)
         await this.serveStatic(req, res, p)
       },
 
       '/_next/:hash/commons.js': async (req, res, params) => {
         this.handleBuildHash('commons.js', params.hash, res)
-        const p = join(this.dir, '.next/commons.js')
+        const p = join(this.dir, `${this.dist}/commons.js`)
         await this.serveStatic(req, res, p)
       },
 
       '/_next/:hash/app.js': async (req, res, params) => {
         this.handleBuildHash('app.js', params.hash, res)
-        const p = join(this.dir, '.next/app.js')
+        const p = join(this.dir, `${this.dist}/app.js`)
         await this.serveStatic(req, res, p)
       },
 
@@ -291,7 +292,7 @@ export default class Server {
   }
 
   readBuildId () {
-    const buildIdPath = join(this.dir, '.next', 'BUILD_ID')
+    const buildIdPath = join(this.dir, this.dist, 'BUILD_ID')
     const buildId = fs.readFileSync(buildIdPath, 'utf8')
     return buildId.trim()
   }
@@ -312,7 +313,7 @@ export default class Server {
     const errors = this.hotReloader.getCompilationErrors()
     if (!errors.size) return
 
-    const id = join(this.dir, '.next', 'bundles', 'pages', page)
+    const id = join(this.dir, this.dist, 'bundles', 'pages', page)
     const p = resolveFromList(id, errors.keys())
     if (p) return errors.get(p)[0]
   }
diff --git a/server/render.js b/server/render.js
index 36c18994e369..c0447bdf96e9 100644
--- a/server/render.js
+++ b/server/render.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { createElement } from 'react'
 import { renderToString, renderToStaticMarkup } from 'react-dom/server'
 import send from 'send'
 import requireModule from './require'
+import getConfig from './config'
 import resolvePath from './resolve'
 import readPage from './read-page'
 import { Router } from '../lib/router'
@@ -42,9 +43,11 @@ async function doRender (req, res, pathname, query, {
 
   await ensurePage(page, { dir, hotReloader })
 
+  const dist = getConfig(dir).distDir
+
   let [Component, Document] = await Promise.all([
-    requireModule(join(dir, '.next', 'dist', 'pages', page)),
-    requireModule(join(dir, '.next', 'dist', 'pages', '_document'))
+    requireModule(join(dir, dist, 'dist', 'pages', page)),
+    requireModule(join(dir, dist, 'dist', 'pages', '_document'))
   ])
   Component = Component.default || Component
   Document = Document.default || Document
@@ -56,8 +59,8 @@ async function doRender (req, res, pathname, query, {
     errorComponent
   ] = await Promise.all([
     loadGetInitialProps(Component, ctx),
-    readPage(join(dir, '.next', 'bundles', 'pages', page)),
-    readPage(join(dir, '.next', 'bundles', 'pages', '_error'))
+    readPage(join(dir, dist, 'bundles', 'pages', page)),
+    readPage(join(dir, dist, 'bundles', 'pages', '_error'))
   ])
 
   // the response might be finshed on the getinitialprops call
@@ -107,13 +110,15 @@ async function doRender (req, res, pathname, query, {
 }
 
 export async function renderJSON (req, res, page, { dir = process.cwd(), hotReloader } = {}) {
+  const dist = getConfig(dir).distDir
   await ensurePage(page, { dir, hotReloader })
-  const pagePath = await resolvePath(join(dir, '.next', 'bundles', 'pages', page))
+  const pagePath = await resolvePath(join(dir, dist, 'bundles', 'pages', page))
   return serveStatic(req, res, pagePath)
 }
 
 export async function renderErrorJSON (err, req, res, { dir = process.cwd(), dev = false } = {}) {
-  const component = await readPage(join(dir, '.next', 'bundles', 'pages', '_error'))
+  const dist = getConfig(dir).distDir
+  const component = await readPage(join(dir, dist, 'bundles', 'pages', '_error'))
 
   sendJSON(res, {
     component,
diff --git a/test/integration/dist-dir/next.config.js b/test/integration/dist-dir/next.config.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..db58ee17b506
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/dist-dir/next.config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+module.exports = {
+  onDemandEntries: {
+    // Make sure entries are not getting disposed.
+    maxInactiveAge: 1000 * 60 * 60
+  },
+  distDir: 'dist'
+}
diff --git a/test/integration/dist-dir/pages/index.js b/test/integration/dist-dir/pages/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3d446a4e89b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/dist-dir/pages/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+export default () => (
+  <div>Hello World</div>
+)
diff --git a/test/integration/dist-dir/test/index.test.js b/test/integration/dist-dir/test/index.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..913f223f230f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/dist-dir/test/index.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/* global jasmine, describe, it, expect, beforeAll, afterAll */
+
+import { join } from 'path'
+import { existsSync } from 'fs'
+import {
+  nextServer,
+  nextBuild,
+  startApp,
+  stopApp,
+  renderViaHTTP
+} from 'next-test-utils'
+
+const appDir = join(__dirname, '../')
+let appPort
+let server
+let app
+jasmine.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_INTERVAL = 40000
+
+describe('Production Usage', () => {
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    await nextBuild(appDir)
+    app = nextServer({
+      dir: join(__dirname, '../'),
+      dev: false,
+      quiet: true
+    })
+
+    server = await startApp(app)
+    appPort = server.address().port
+  })
+  afterAll(() => stopApp(server))
+
+  describe('With basic usage', () => {
+    it('should render the page', async () => {
+      const html = await renderViaHTTP(appPort, '/')
+      expect(html).toMatch(/Hello World/)
+    })
+  })
+
+  describe('File locations', () => {
+    it('should build the app within the given `dist` directory', () => {
+      expect(existsSync(join(__dirname, '/../dist/app.js'))).toBeTruthy()
+    })
+
+    it('should not build the app within the default `.next` directory', () => {
+      expect(existsSync(join(__dirname, '/../.next/app.js'))).toBeFalsy()
+    })
+  })
+})