diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d796bb2..073468e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -50,8 +50,16 @@ more flexibility.
 
 ## Installation
 
+As root, using sudo:
+
 ```sh
-curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/soywod/himalaya/master/install.sh | sh
+curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/soywod/himalaya/master/install.sh | sudo sh
+```
+
+As a regular user:
+
+```sh
+curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/soywod/himalaya/master/install.sh | PREFIX=~/.local sh
 ```
 
 Read the Nix section below for a Nix-based installation method. *See the [wiki section](https://github.com/soywod/himalaya/wiki/Installation)
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 88cd81d..48b095b 100644
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 
 set -eu
 
+die() {
+    printf '%s\n' "$1" >&2
+    exit "${2-1}"
+}
+
 DESTDIR="${DESTDIR:-/}"
 PREFIX="${PREFIX:-"$DESTDIR/usr/local"}"
 RELEASES_URL="https://github.com/soywod/himalaya/releases"
@@ -12,28 +17,20 @@ case $system in
   msys*|mingw*|cygwin*|win*) system=windows;;
   linux|freebsd) system=linux;;
   darwin) system=macos;;
-  *) echo "Error: Unsupported system: $system"; exit 1;;
+  *) die "Unsupported system: $system" ;;
 esac
 
-if ! tmpdir=$(mktemp -d); then
-  echo "Error: Failed to create tmpdir"
-  exit 1
-else
-  trap "rm -rf $tmpdir" EXIT
-fi
+tmpdir=$(mktemp -d) || die "Failed to create tmpdir"
+trap "rm -rf $tmpdir" EXIT
 
 echo "Downloading latest $system release…"
-curl -sLo "$tmpdir/himalaya.tar.gz" "$RELEASES_URL/latest/download/himalaya-$system.tar.gz"
+curl -sLo "$tmpdir/himalaya.tar.gz" \
+     "$RELEASES_URL/latest/download/himalaya-$system.tar.gz"
 
 echo "Installing binary…"
 tar -xzf "$tmpdir/himalaya.tar.gz" -C "$tmpdir"
 
-if [ -w "$PREFIX" ]; then
-  mkdir -p "$PREFIX/bin"
-  cp -f -- "$tmpdir/himalaya.exe" "$PREFIX/bin/himalaya"
-else
-  sudo mkdir -p "$PREFIX/bin"
-  sudo cp -f -- "$tmpdir/himalaya.exe" "$PREFIX/bin/himalaya"
-fi
+mkdir -p "$PREFIX/bin"
+cp -f -- "$tmpdir/himalaya.exe" "$PREFIX/bin/himalaya"
 
-echo "$("$PREFIX/bin/himalaya" --version) installed!"
+die "$("$PREFIX/bin/himalaya" --version) installed!" 0