diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 3a7bc2b8..507d0125 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -216,9 +216,15 @@ noinst_HEADERS = util-internal.h mm-internal.h ipv6-internal.h \
 	WIN32-Code/tree.h \
 	compat/sys/queue.h
 
-include_HEADERS = event.h evhttp.h evdns.h evrpc.h evutil.h
+EVENT1_HDRs = event.h evhttp.h evdns.h evrpc.h evutil.h
 
-INCLUDES = -I$(srcdir)/compat -I$(srcdir)/include -I./include $(SYS_INCLUDES)
+if INSTALL_LIBEVENT
+include_HEADERS = $(EVENT1_HDRS)
+else
+noinst_HEADERS += $(EVENT1_HDRS)
+endif
+
+AM_CPPFLAGS = -I$(srcdir)/compat -I$(srcdir)/include -I./include $(SYS_INCLUDES)
 
 verify: check