diff --git a/tools/lib/traceevent/Makefile b/tools/lib/traceevent/Makefile
index c5a03356a999..c874c017c636 100644
--- a/tools/lib/traceevent/Makefile
+++ b/tools/lib/traceevent/Makefile
@@ -39,11 +39,12 @@ DESTDIR_SQ = '$(subst ','\'',$(DESTDIR))'
 
 LP64 := $(shell echo __LP64__ | ${CC} ${CFLAGS} -E -x c - | tail -n 1)
 ifeq ($(LP64), 1)
-  libdir_relative = lib64
+  libdir_relative_temp = lib64
 else
-  libdir_relative = lib
+  libdir_relative_temp = lib
 endif
 
+libdir_relative ?= $(libdir_relative_temp)
 prefix ?= /usr/local
 libdir = $(prefix)/$(libdir_relative)
 man_dir = $(prefix)/share/man
diff --git a/tools/lib/traceevent/plugins/Makefile b/tools/lib/traceevent/plugins/Makefile
index f440989fa55e..349bb81482ab 100644
--- a/tools/lib/traceevent/plugins/Makefile
+++ b/tools/lib/traceevent/plugins/Makefile
@@ -32,11 +32,12 @@ DESTDIR_SQ = '$(subst ','\'',$(DESTDIR))'
 
 LP64 := $(shell echo __LP64__ | ${CC} ${CFLAGS} -E -x c - | tail -n 1)
 ifeq ($(LP64), 1)
-  libdir_relative = lib64
+  libdir_relative_tmp = lib64
 else
-  libdir_relative = lib
+  libdir_relative_tmp = lib
 endif
 
+libdir_relative ?= $(libdir_relative_tmp)
 prefix ?= /usr/local
 libdir = $(prefix)/$(libdir_relative)