diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
index 1de947cae..1d2197bb2 100644
--- a/INSTALL
+++ b/INSTALL
@@ -98,3 +98,9 @@ There is a MANIFEST.in file to indicate the work needed.
 To create a source distribution run:
 
    python setup.py sdist
+
+If Gramps is built outside of the source tree in a temporary location (e.g. when
+packaging for a distribution), the --resourcepath option can be used to specify
+the path to the installed location of the Gramps resources (e.g. /usr/share):
+
+   python setup.py install --resourcepath=/usr/share
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ebfa14afd..bc25c375d 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ from stat import ST_MODE
 import io
 from gramps.version import VERSION
 import unittest
+import argparse
 
 # this list MUST be a subset of _LOCALE_NAMES in gen/utils/grampslocale.py
 # (that is, if you add a new language here, be sure it's in _LOCALE_NAMES too)
@@ -60,6 +61,19 @@ if '--server' in sys.argv:
     sys.argv.remove('--server')
     server = True
 
+# check if the resourcepath option is used and store the path
+# this is for packagers that build out of the source tree
+# other options to setup.py are passed through
+resource_path = ''
+packaging = False
+argparser = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False)
+argparser.add_argument("--resourcepath", dest="resource_path")
+args, passthrough = argparser.parse_known_args()
+if args.resource_path:
+    resource_path = args.resource_path
+    packaging = True
+sys.argv = [sys.argv[0]] + passthrough
+
 def intltool_version():
     '''
     Return the version of intltool as a tuple.
@@ -241,7 +255,10 @@ class install(_install):
                                      'utils', 'resource-path')
         with io.open(resource_file, 'w', encoding='utf-8',
                      errors='strict') as fp:
-            path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(self.install_data, 'share'))
+            if packaging:
+                path = resource_path
+            else:
+                path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(self.install_data, 'share'))
             fp.write(path)
 
         _install.run(self)