diff --git a/syslog-ng.spec b/syslog-ng.spec
index 932d4c2..b4ec380 100644
--- a/syslog-ng.spec
+++ b/syslog-ng.spec
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 %define evtlog_ver 0.2.12
 
 %define _sbindir /sbin
-%define _localstatedir %{_sharedstatedir}/%{name}
 
 Name: syslog-ng
 Version: 3.1.4
@@ -61,6 +60,7 @@ ideal for firewalled environments.
 %build
 %configure \
     --sysconfdir=%{_sysconfdir}/%{name} \
+    --localstatedir=%{_sharedstatedir}/%{name} \
     --enable-ipv6 \
     --enable-tcp-wrapper \
     --enable-pcre \
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ make DESTDIR=%{buildroot} install
 %{__install} -p -m 644 %{SOURCE4} %{buildroot}%{_sysconfdir}/logrotate.d/syslog
 
 # make local state dir
-%{__install} -d -m 755 %{buildroot}/%{_localstatedir}
+%{__install} -d -m 755 %{buildroot}/%{_sharedstatedir}/%{name}
 
 # create the patterndb.d configuration directory (should be fixed in 3.2.4)
 %{__install} -d -m 755 %{buildroot}/%{_sysconfdir}/%{name}/patterndb.d
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ fi
 %config(noreplace) %{_sysconfdir}/sysconfig/%{name}
 %config(noreplace) %{_sysconfdir}/logrotate.d/syslog
 %{_sysconfdir}/init.d/%{name}
-%dir %{_localstatedir}
+%dir %{_sharedstatedir}/%{name}
 %{_sbindir}/%{name}
 %{_sbindir}/syslog-ng-ctl
 %{_bindir}/loggen
@@ -181,6 +181,7 @@ fi
 %changelog
 * Mon May  9 2011 Jose Pedro Oliveira <jpo at di.uminho.pt> - 3.1.4-3
 - Bumped the eventlog version to match the latest upstream version (0.2.12)
+- Override the default _localstatedir value (configure --localstatedir)
 - Create the patterndb.d configuration directory
 - Minor modifications of the %%post, %%preun and %%postun scripts
 - Corrected a couple of macro references in changelog entries (rpmlint)