diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 49318a3e1..7ee99d8c2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ ifndef POCO_BUILD
 export POCO_BUILD=$(POCO_BASE)
 endif
 
+LIBPREFIX ?= lib
+
 .PHONY: poco all libexecs cppunit tests samples cleans clean distclean install
 
 # TESTS and SAMPLES are set in config.make