diff --git a/acconfig.h b/acconfig.h
index d72125605f..18fb864e41 100644
--- a/acconfig.h
+++ b/acconfig.h
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@
 #undef HAVE_STPCPY
 
 #undef PLUGINS_DIR
-#undef PLUGINS_SRCDIR
-#undef PLUGINS_USE_SRCDIR
+#undef PLUGINS_BUILDDIR
+#undef PLUGINS_USE_BUILDDIR
 
 #undef GST_CONFIG_DIR
 #undef GST_WIN32_LIBDIR
diff --git a/configure.base b/configure.base
index e31349582e..787e620d64 100644
--- a/configure.base
+++ b/configure.base
@@ -723,14 +723,14 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE(atomic,
 esac], 
 [USE_ATOMIC_H=$HAVE_ATOMIC_H]) dnl Default value
 
-AC_ARG_ENABLE(plugin-srcdir,
-[  --enable-plugin-srcdir       allow tests/demos to use non-installed plugins ],
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(plugin-builddir,
+[  --enable-plugin-builddir     allow tests/demos to use non-installed plugins ],
 [case "${enableval}" in
-  yes) PLUGINS_USE_SRCDIR=yes ;;
-  no)  PLUGINS_USE_SRCDIR=no ;;
-  *) AC_MSG_ERROR(bad value ${enableval} for --enable-plugin-srcdir) ;;
+  yes) PLUGINS_USE_BUILDDIR=yes ;;
+  no)  PLUGINS_USE_BUILDDIR=no ;;
+  *) AC_MSG_ERROR(bad value ${enableval} for --enable-plugin-builddir) ;;
 esac], 
-[PLUGINS_USE_SRCDIR=no]) dnl Default value
+[PLUGINS_USE_BUILDDIR=no]) dnl Default value
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(debug,
 [  --enable-debug               compile with -g debugging info],
@@ -869,8 +869,8 @@ if test "x$USE_ATOMIC_H" = xyes; then
   AC_DEFINE(HAVE_ATOMIC_H, 1, [Define if atomic.h header file is available])
 fi
 
-if test "x$PLUGINS_USE_SRCDIR" = xyes; then
-  AC_DEFINE(PLUGINS_USE_SRCDIR, 1, [Define if plugins should be loaded from the build tree - only developers should use this])
+if test "x$PLUGINS_USE_BUILDDIR" = xyes; then
+  AC_DEFINE(PLUGINS_USE_BUILDDIR, 1, [Define if plugins should be loaded from the build tree - only developers should use this])
 fi
 
 if test "x$USE_DEBUG" = xyes; then
@@ -1012,7 +1012,7 @@ AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_GNOME_VFS,      test "x$HAVE_GNOME_VFS" = "xyes")
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_AVIFILE,        test "x$HAVE_AVIFILE" = "xyes")
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_LIBOPENQUICKTIME, test "x$HAVE_LIBOPENQUICKTIME" = "xyes")
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_LIBGSM,         test "x$HAVE_LIBGSM" = "xyes")
-AM_CONDITIONAL(PLUGINS_USE_SRCDIR,  test "x$PLUGINS_USE_SRCDIR" = "xyes")
+AM_CONDITIONAL(PLUGINS_USE_BUILDDIR,  test "x$PLUGINS_USE_BUILDDIR" = "xyes")
 
 
 dnl ############################
@@ -1037,9 +1037,9 @@ AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(PLUGINS_DIR,"$PLUGINS_DIR")
 AC_SUBST(PLUGINS_DIR)
 
 dnl Set location of uninstalled plugin directory
-PLUGINS_SRCDIR=`pwd`/$srcdir
-AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(PLUGINS_SRCDIR,"$PLUGINS_SRCDIR")
-AC_SUBST(PLUGINS_SRCDIR)
+PLUGINS_BUILDDIR=${builddir}
+AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(PLUGINS_BUILDDIR,"$PLUGINS_BUILDDIR")
+AC_SUBST(PLUGINS_BUILDDIR)
 
 
 
diff --git a/gst/gstplugin.c b/gst/gstplugin.c
index fb188b3adf..ee656fc04b 100644
--- a/gst/gstplugin.c
+++ b/gst/gstplugin.c
@@ -73,21 +73,21 @@ _gst_plugin_initialize (void)
   _gst_plugin_paths = g_list_prepend (_gst_plugin_paths, PLUGINS_DIR);
 
   /* if this is set, we add build-directory paths to the list */
-#ifdef PLUGINS_USE_SRCDIR
+#ifdef PLUGINS_USE_BUILDDIR
   /* the catch-all plugins directory */
   _gst_plugin_paths = g_list_prepend (_gst_plugin_paths,
-                                      PLUGINS_SRCDIR "/plugins");
+                                      PLUGINS_BUILDDIR "/plugins");
   /* the libreary directory */
   _gst_plugin_paths = g_list_prepend (_gst_plugin_paths,
-                                      PLUGINS_SRCDIR "/libs");
+                                      PLUGINS_BUILDDIR "/libs");
   /* location libgstelements.so */
   _gst_plugin_paths = g_list_prepend (_gst_plugin_paths,
-                                      PLUGINS_SRCDIR "/gst/elements");
+                                      PLUGINS_BUILDDIR "/gst/elements");
   _gst_plugin_paths = g_list_prepend (_gst_plugin_paths,
-                                      PLUGINS_SRCDIR "/gst/types");
+                                      PLUGINS_BUILDDIR "/gst/types");
   _gst_plugin_paths = g_list_prepend (_gst_plugin_paths,
-                                      PLUGINS_SRCDIR "/gst/autoplug");
-#endif /* PLUGINS_USE_SRCDIR */
+                                      PLUGINS_BUILDDIR "/gst/autoplug");
+#endif /* PLUGINS_USE_BUILDDIR */
 
   doc = xmlParseFile (GST_CONFIG_DIR"/reg.xml");