diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d23e6c66f..698a79242 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,14 +4,20 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
-## [Unreleased]
+## [20.8.4] - Unreleased
 ### Added
 ### Changed
+* Use better defaults for installation directories [#574](https://github.com/greenbone/gvm-libs/pull/574)
+    * SYSCONFDIR is /etc by default now
+    * LOCALSTATEDIR is /var by default now
+    * Introduced GVM_RUN_DIR that uses /run/gvm by default
+    * GVM_PID_DIR is /run/gvm by default now
+
 ### Deprecated
 ### Removed
 ### Fixed
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/greenbone/gvm-libs/compare/v20.8.3...HEAD
+[20.8.4]: https://github.com/greenbone/gvm-libs/compare/v20.8.3...gvm-libs-20.08
 
 
 ## [20.8.3] - 2021-08-03
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 68249ad00..71545ecf2 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ if (SYSCONF_INSTALL_DIR)
 endif (SYSCONF_INSTALL_DIR)
 
 if (NOT SYSCONFDIR)
-  set (SYSCONFDIR "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/etc")
+  set (SYSCONFDIR "/etc")
 endif (NOT SYSCONFDIR)
 
 if (NOT EXEC_PREFIX)
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ if (NOT LIBDIR)
 endif (NOT LIBDIR)
 
 if (NOT LOCALSTATEDIR)
-  set (LOCALSTATEDIR "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/var")
+  set (LOCALSTATEDIR "/var")
 endif (NOT LOCALSTATEDIR)
 
 if (NOT INCLUDEDIR)
@@ -179,8 +179,12 @@ if (NOT DATADIR)
   set (DATADIR "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/share")
 endif (NOT DATADIR)
 
+if (NOT GVM_RUN_DIR)
+  set (GVM_RUN_DIR  "/run/gvm")
+endif (NOT GVM_RUN_DIR)
+
 if (NOT GVM_PID_DIR)
-  set (GVM_PID_DIR "${LOCALSTATEDIR}/run")
+  set (GVM_PID_DIR "${GVM_RUN_DIR}")
 endif (NOT GVM_PID_DIR)
 
 if (NOT GVM_SYSCONF_DIR)