diff --git a/pynest/CMakeLists.txt b/pynest/CMakeLists.txt
index e8f2568..51b92ac 100644
--- a/pynest/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/pynest/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -94,9 +94,14 @@ if ( HAVE_PYTHON )
   install( CODE "
       execute_process(
           COMMAND ${PYTHON} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/setup.py install_egg_info
+            --root=\${DESTDIR}/
             --install-dir=${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/${PYEXECDIR}
           WORKING_DIRECTORY \"${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/${PYEXECDIR}\"
       )
+      "
+  )
+  if ( FALSE )
+  install( CODE "
       # Use Python's standard library `pkg_resources` module to find
       # the install requirements of `nest` as specified in `setup.py`.
       # Then feed them into the stdin pipe of `pip install`.
@@ -106,6 +111,7 @@ if ( HAVE_PYTHON )
       )
       "
   )
+  endif ()
 
   install( DIRECTORY examples/
       DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR}/examples/pynest