diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 80201d7..46274c0 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ Usage: install.sh [options]
 Options:
   --root /path/to/root     alternative install root (default /)
   --prefix /prefix         directory prefix (default /usr)
+  --nonroot                shortcut of '--disttype nonroot'
   --sysconfdir /etc/sysconfig   specify sysconfig directory name
   --help                   this helpful message
 EOF
@@ -36,8 +37,8 @@ EOF
 }
 
 root=/
-prefix=/opt/scylladb
 sysconfdir=/etc/sysconfig
+nonroot=false
 
 while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
     case "$1" in
@@ -49,6 +50,10 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
             prefix="$2"
             shift 2
             ;;
+        "--nonroot")
+            nonroot=true
+            shift 1
+            ;;
         "--sysconfdir")
             sysconfdir="$2"
             shift 2
@@ -63,24 +68,57 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
     esac
 done
 
-rprefix="$root/$prefix"
-retc="$root/etc"
-rusr="$root/usr"
-rsysconfdir="$root/$sysconfdir"
+if [ -z "$prefix" ]; then
+    if $nonroot; then
+        prefix=~/scylladb
+    else
+        prefix=/opt/scylladb
+    fi
+fi
+
+rprefix=$(realpath -m "$root/$prefix")
+if ! $nonroot; then
+    retc="$root/etc"
+    rsysconfdir="$root/$sysconfdir"
+    rusr="$root/usr"
+    rsystemd="$rusr/lib/systemd/system"
+else
+    retc="$rprefix/etc"
+    rsysconfdir="$rprefix/$sysconfdir"
+    rsystemd="$retc/systemd"
+fi
 
 install -d -m755 "$rsysconfdir"
-install -d -m755 "$rusr"/lib/systemd/system
+install -d -m755 "$rsystemd"
 install -d -m755 "$rprefix/scripts" "$rprefix/jmx" "$rprefix/jmx/symlinks"
 
 install -m644 dist/common/sysconfig/scylla-jmx -Dt "$rsysconfdir"
-install -m644 dist/common/systemd/scylla-jmx.service  -Dt "$rusr"/lib/systemd/system
-if [ "$sysconfdir" != "/etc/sysconfig" ]; then
-    install -d -m755 "$retc"/systemd/system/scylla-jmx.service.d
-    cat << EOS > "$retc"/systemd/system/scylla-jmx.service.d/sysconfdir.conf
+install -m644 dist/common/systemd/scylla-jmx.service  -Dt "$rsystemd"
+if ! $nonroot; then
+    if [ "$sysconfdir" != "/etc/sysconfig" ]; then
+        install -d -m755 "$retc"/systemd/system/scylla-jmx.service.d
+        cat << EOS > "$retc"/systemd/system/scylla-jmx.service.d/sysconfdir.conf
 [Service]
 EnvironmentFile=
 EnvironmentFile=$sysconfdir/scylla-jmx
 EOS
+    fi
+else
+    install -d -m755 "$retc"/systemd/system/scylla-jmx.service.d
+    cat << EOS > "$retc"/systemd/system/scylla-jmx.service.d/nonroot.conf
+[Service]
+EnvironmentFile=
+EnvironmentFile=$retc/sysconfig/scylla-jmx
+ExecStart=
+ExecStart=$rprefix/jmx/scylla-jmx \$SCYLLA_JMX_PORT \$SCYLLA_API_PORT \$SCYLLA_API_ADDR \$SCYLLA_JMX_ADDR \$SCYLLA_JMX_FILE \$SCYLLA_JMX_LOCAL \$SCYLLA_JMX_REMOTE \$SCYLLA_JMX_DEBUG
+User=
+Group=
+EOS
+    if [ ! -d ~/.config/systemd/user/scylla-jmx.service.d ]; then
+        mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user/scylla-jmx.service.d
+    fi
+    ln -srf $rsystemd/scylla-jmx.service ~/.config/systemd/user/
+    ln -srf "$retc"/systemd/system/scylla-jmx.service.d/nonroot.conf ~/.config/systemd/user/scylla-jmx.service.d
 fi
 
 install -m644 scylla-jmx-1.0.jar "$rprefix/jmx"
@@ -88,3 +126,11 @@ install -m755 scylla-jmx "$rprefix/jmx"
 ln -sf /usr/bin/java "$rprefix/jmx/symlinks/scylla-jmx"
 # create symlink for /usr/lib/scylla/jmx
 ln -srf $rprefix/jmx "$rprefix/scripts/"
+
+if $nonroot; then
+    sed -i -e "s#/var/lib/scylla#$rprefix#g" "$rsysconfdir"/scylla-jmx
+    sed -i -e "s#/etc/scylla#$rprefix/etc/scylla#g" "$rsysconfdir"/scylla-jmx
+    sed -i -e "s#/opt/scylladb/jmx#$rprefix/jmx#g" "$rsysconfdir"/scylla-jmx
+    systemctl --user daemon-reload
+    echo "Scylla-JMX non-root install completed."
+fi