diff -urN xapian-bindings-1.0.7.orig/configure xapian-bindings-1.0.7/configure
--- xapian-bindings-1.0.7.orig/configure	2008-08-26 18:19:07.000000000 +0200
+++ xapian-bindings-1.0.7/configure	2008-08-26 19:06:25.000000000 +0200
@@ -15079,7 +15079,7 @@
 	{ $as_echo "$as_me:$LINENO: checking for directory to install python bindings in" >&5
 $as_echo_n "checking for directory to install python bindings in... " >&6; }
 	if test -z "$PYTHON_LIB" ; then
-	  PYTHON_LIB=`$PYTHON -c 'import os,distutils.sysconfig;print(distutils.sysconfig.get_python_lib(1).replace(os.sep,"/"))'`
+	  PYTHON_LIB=`$PYTHON -c "import os,distutils.sysconfig;print(distutils.sysconfig.get_python_lib(1, 0, chr(36)+'{exec_prefix}').replace(os.sep, '/'))"`
 	fi
 	{ $as_echo "$as_me:$LINENO: result: $PYTHON_LIB" >&5
 $as_echo "$PYTHON_LIB" >&6; }
diff -urN xapian-bindings-1.0.7.orig/configure.ac xapian-bindings-1.0.7/configure.ac
--- xapian-bindings-1.0.7.orig/configure.ac	2008-08-26 18:19:07.000000000 +0200
+++ xapian-bindings-1.0.7/configure.ac	2008-08-26 18:49:34.000000000 +0200
@@ -243,7 +243,9 @@
 	AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
 	AC_MSG_CHECKING([for directory to install python bindings in])
 	if test -z "$PYTHON_LIB" ; then
-	  PYTHON_LIB=`$PYTHON -c 'import os,distutils.sysconfig;print(distutils.sysconfig.get_python_lib(1).replace(os.sep,"/"))'`
+	  PYTHON_LIB=`$PYTHON -c 'import os,distutils.sysconfig;
+      print(distutils.sysconfig.get_python_lib(1, 
+      prefix='${exec_prefix}').replace(os.sep,"/"))'`
 	fi
 	AC_MSG_RESULT([$PYTHON_LIB])
 	AC_ARG_VAR(PYTHON_LIB, [Directory to install python bindings in])
diff -urN xapian-bindings-1.0.7.orig/python/Makefile.am xapian-bindings-1.0.7/python/Makefile.am
--- xapian-bindings-1.0.7.orig/python/Makefile.am	2008-08-26 18:19:07.000000000 +0200
+++ xapian-bindings-1.0.7/python/Makefile.am	2008-08-26 18:49:34.000000000 +0200
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 
 # Install as _DATA rather than _SCRIPTS because we don't want to make these
 # executable (they don't have a #! line).
-pylib_DATA = xapian.py xapian.pyc xapian.pyo
+pylib_DATA = xapian.py
 
 pylib_LTLIBRARIES = _xapian.la
 
@@ -53,20 +53,12 @@
 xapian.py: modern/xapian.py
 	cp `test -f modern/xapian.py || echo '$(srcdir)/'`modern/xapian.py .
 
-# We "import _xapian" first so that if we fail to import the glue library
-# we don't generate a broken xapian.pyc or xapian.pyo.
-xapian.pyc: xapian.py _xapian$(PYTHON_SO)
-	PYTHONPATH=. $(PYTHON) -c "import _xapian;import xapian"
-
-xapian.pyo: xapian.py _xapian$(PYTHON_SO)
-	PYTHONPATH=. $(PYTHON) -O -c "import _xapian;import xapian"
-
 _xapian$(PYTHON_SO): _xapian.la
 	$(LIBTOOL) --config > libtoolconfig.tmp
 	. ./libtoolconfig.tmp; cp $$objdir/_xapian$(PYTHON_SO) .
 	rm -f libtoolconfig.tmp
 
-CLEANFILES = _xapian$(PYTHON_SO) xapian.py xapian.pyc xapian.pyo testsuite.pyc
+CLEANFILES = _xapian$(PYTHON_SO) xapian.py testsuite.pyc
 
 if MAINTAINER_MODE
 # We need to explicitly set -outdir because on Windows, SWIG splits paths at
diff -urN xapian-bindings-1.0.7.orig/python/Makefile.in xapian-bindings-1.0.7/python/Makefile.in
--- xapian-bindings-1.0.7.orig/python/Makefile.in	2008-08-26 18:19:07.000000000 +0200
+++ xapian-bindings-1.0.7/python/Makefile.in	2008-08-26 18:49:34.000000000 +0200
@@ -292,14 +292,14 @@
 
 # Install as _DATA rather than _SCRIPTS because we don't want to make these
 # executable (they don't have a #! line).
-pylib_DATA = xapian.py xapian.pyc xapian.pyo
+pylib_DATA = xapian.py
 pylib_LTLIBRARIES = _xapian.la
 AM_CPPFLAGS = -I$(PYTHON_INC)
 AM_CXXFLAGS = $(SWIG_CXXFLAGS) $(XAPIAN_CXXFLAGS)
 _xapian_la_LDFLAGS = -avoid-version -module -shrext "$(PYTHON_SO)" $(NO_UNDEFINED)
 _xapian_la_SOURCES = modern/xapian_wrap.cc
 _xapian_la_LIBADD = $(XAPIAN_LIBS) $(PYTHON_LIBS)
-CLEANFILES = _xapian$(PYTHON_SO) xapian.py xapian.pyc xapian.pyo \
+CLEANFILES = _xapian$(PYTHON_SO) xapian.py \
 	testsuite.pyc $(am__append_2)
 @MAINTAINER_MODE_FALSE@MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = $(BUILT_SOURCES)
 all: $(BUILT_SOURCES)
@@ -819,14 +819,6 @@
 xapian.py: modern/xapian.py
 	cp `test -f modern/xapian.py || echo '$(srcdir)/'`modern/xapian.py .
 
-# We "import _xapian" first so that if we fail to import the glue library
-# we don't generate a broken xapian.pyc or xapian.pyo.
-xapian.pyc: xapian.py _xapian$(PYTHON_SO)
-	PYTHONPATH=. $(PYTHON) -c "import _xapian;import xapian"
-
-xapian.pyo: xapian.py _xapian$(PYTHON_SO)
-	PYTHONPATH=. $(PYTHON) -O -c "import _xapian;import xapian"
-
 _xapian$(PYTHON_SO): _xapian.la
 	$(LIBTOOL) --config > libtoolconfig.tmp
 	. ./libtoolconfig.tmp; cp $$objdir/_xapian$(PYTHON_SO) .