diff --git a/auto/lib/libatomic/conf b/auto/lib/libatomic/conf
index 8c8cb438b..dfdc1a622 100644
--- a/auto/lib/libatomic/conf
+++ b/auto/lib/libatomic/conf
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ if [ $NGX_LIBATOMIC != YES ]; then
 
     have=NGX_HAVE_LIBATOMIC . auto/have
     CORE_INCS="$CORE_INCS $NGX_LIBATOMIC/src"
-    LINK_DEPS="$LINK_DEPS $NGX_LIBATOMIC/src/libatomic_ops.a"
-    CORE_LIBS="$CORE_LIBS $NGX_LIBATOMIC/src/libatomic_ops.a"
+    LINK_DEPS="$LINK_DEPS $NGX_LIBATOMIC/build/lib/libatomic_ops.a"
+    CORE_LIBS="$CORE_LIBS $NGX_LIBATOMIC/build/lib/libatomic_ops.a"
 
 else
 
diff --git a/auto/lib/libatomic/make b/auto/lib/libatomic/make
index c90318ea1..530c746a6 100644
--- a/auto/lib/libatomic/make
+++ b/auto/lib/libatomic/make
@@ -3,14 +3,19 @@
 # Copyright (C) Nginx, Inc.
 
 
+    case $NGX_LIBATOMIC in
+        /*) ngx_prefix="$NGX_LIBATOMIC/build" ;;
+        *)  ngx_prefix="$PWD/$NGX_LIBATOMIC/build" ;;
+    esac
+
     cat << END                                            >> $NGX_MAKEFILE
 
-$NGX_LIBATOMIC/src/libatomic_ops.a:	$NGX_LIBATOMIC/Makefile
-	cd $NGX_LIBATOMIC && \$(MAKE)
+$NGX_LIBATOMIC/build/lib/libatomic_ops.a:	$NGX_LIBATOMIC/Makefile
+	cd $NGX_LIBATOMIC && \$(MAKE) && \$(MAKE) install
 
 $NGX_LIBATOMIC/Makefile:	$NGX_MAKEFILE
 	cd $NGX_LIBATOMIC \\
 	&& if [ -f Makefile ]; then \$(MAKE) distclean; fi \\
-	&& ./configure
+	&& ./configure --prefix=$ngx_prefix
 
 END