diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index edbcab78..cc9bc3ce 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -1,12 +1,23 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -e
-if [ "$1" != "" ]; then
-    dest="$(realpath "$1/tools/agbcc")"
-    install -Dm755 -t "$dest/bin" agbcc old_agbcc agbcc_arm
-    install -Dm644 -t "$dest/lib" libgcc.a libc.a
-    install -Dm644 -t "$dest/include" ginclude/*
-    cp -R libc/include "$dest/" #drop include, because we don't want include/include
-    make -C binutils/build DESTDIR="$dest" install
+
+default_dest=/opt/agbcc
+
+if [ $# -ge 1 ]; then
+    dest="$(realpath "$1")"
 else
-    echo "Usage: install.sh PATH"
+    echo "INFO: Missing parameter, defaulting to installing in $default_dest" 1>&2
+    dest="$default_dest"
 fi
+
+# Check if we can access $dest
+if [ -d "$dest" -a ! -w "$dest" ] || ! install -d "$dest" 2> /dev/null; then
+   echo "ERROR: Can't access directory '$dest'. Are you sure you have sufficient permissions? (hint: use 'sudo ./install.sh')" 1>&2
+   exit 1
+fi
+
+install -Dm755 -t "$dest/bin" agbcc old_agbcc agbcc_arm
+install -Dm644 -t "$dest/lib" libgcc.a libc.a
+install -Dm644 -t "$dest/include" ginclude/*
+cp -R libc/include "$dest/" #drop include, because we don't want include/include
+make -C binutils/build DESTDIR="$dest" install