diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index ae17c68..3977ec7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 AC_INIT([xfsprogs], [3.2.0-alpha2])
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([subdir-objects])
 AC_PREREQ(2.50)
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([.])
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
diff --git a/include/Makefile b/include/Makefile
index 70e43a0..937502e 100644
--- a/include/Makefile
+++ b/include/Makefile
@@ -21,14 +21,8 @@
 QAHFILES = libxfs.h libxlog.h \
 	atomic.h bitops.h cache.h kmem.h list.h hlist.h parent.h radix-tree.h \
 	swab.h \
-	xfs_arch.h \
-	xfs_btree_trace.h \
-	xfs_inode.h \
 	xfs_log_recover.h \
-	xfs_metadump.h \
-	xfs_mount.h \
-	xfs_trace.h \
-	xfs_trans.h
+	xfs_metadump.h
 
 HFILES = handle.h jdm.h xqm.h xfs.h
 HFILES += $(PKG_PLATFORM).h
diff --git a/include/buildrules b/include/buildrules
index dbd9e10..6fe0930 100644
--- a/include/buildrules
+++ b/include/buildrules
@@ -40,11 +40,11 @@
 
 %.lo: %.c
 	@echo "    [CC]     $@"
-	$(Q)$(LTCOMPILE) -c $<
+	$(Q)$(LTCOMPILE) -c $< -o $@
 else
 %.o: %.c
 	@echo "    [CC]     $@"
-	$(Q)$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $<
+	$(Q)$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $@
 
 endif
 
diff --git a/libxfs/Makefile b/libxfs/Makefile
index 51b98ec..95c33fc 100644
--- a/libxfs/Makefile
+++ b/libxfs/Makefile
@@ -15,14 +15,25 @@
 	xfs_types.h
 
 # headers with build dependencies
-HFILES = xfs.h \
+SHFILES = xfs.h \
 	init.h \
 	crc32defs.h \
-	crc32table.h \
-	xfs_dir2_priv.h \
+	crc32table.h
+
+HFILES = $(addprefix support/, $(SHFILES)) \
+	xfs_dir2_priv.h
 
 # headers installed in QA targets
-QAHFILES = xfs_alloc.h \
+SQAHFILES = libxfs_io.h \
+	xfs_arch.h \
+	xfs_btree_trace.h \
+	xfs_inode.h \
+	xfs_mount.h \
+	xfs_trace.h \
+	xfs_trans.h
+
+QAHFILES = $(addprefix support/, $(SQAHFILES)) \
+	xfs_alloc.h \
 	xfs_alloc_btree.h \
 	xfs_attr_leaf.h \
 	xfs_attr_sf.h \
@@ -46,11 +57,19 @@
 	xfs_shared.h \
 	xfs_trans_resv.h \
 	xfs_trans_space.h \
-	libxfs_io.h
 
-CFILES = cache.c \
+# supporting C files
+SCFILES = cache.c \
 	crc32.c \
-	init.c kmem.c logitem.c radix-tree.c rdwr.c trans.c util.c \
+	init.c \
+	kmem.c \
+	logitem.c \
+	radix-tree.c \
+	rdwr.c \
+	trans.c \
+	util.c
+
+CFILES = $(addprefix support/, $(SCFILES)) \
 	xfs_alloc.c \
 	xfs_alloc_btree.c \
 	xfs_attr.c \
@@ -78,10 +97,12 @@
 	xfs_symlink_remote.c \
 	xfs_trans_resv.c
 
-CFILES += $(PKG_PLATFORM).c
-PCFILES = darwin.c freebsd.c irix.c linux.c
-LSRCFILES = $(shell echo $(PCFILES) | sed -e "s/$(PKG_PLATFORM).c//g")
-LSRCFILES += gen_crc32table.c
+CFILES += $(addprefix support/, $(PKG_PLATFORM).c)
+
+SPCFILES = darwin.c freebsd.c irix.c linux.c
+SLSRCFILES = $(shell echo $(SPCFILES) | sed -e "s/$(PKG_PLATFORM).c//g")
+SLSRCFILES += gen_crc32table.c
+LSRCFILES = $(addprefix support/, $(SLSRCFILES))
 
 #
 # Tracing flags:
@@ -92,39 +113,39 @@
 #
 #LCFLAGS +=
 
-FCFLAGS = -I.
+FCFLAGS = -I. -Isupport
 
 LTLIBS = $(LIBPTHREAD) $(LIBRT)
 
 # don't try linking xfs_repair with a debug libxfs.
 DEBUG = -DNDEBUG
 
-LDIRT = gen_crc32table crc32table.h crc32selftest
+LDIRT = $(addprefix support/, gen_crc32table crc32table.h crc32selftest)
 
-default: xfs crc32selftest ltdepend $(LTLIBRARY)
+default: xfs support/crc32selftest ltdepend $(LTLIBRARY)
 
-crc32table.h: gen_crc32table.c
-	@echo "    [CC]     gen_crc32table"
-	$(Q) $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o gen_crc32table $<
+# set up include/xfs header directory
+xfs: $(addsuffix -hdrs, $(PKGHFILES) $(QAHFILES))
+
+%-hdrs:
+	$(Q)$(LN_S) -f $(PWD)/libxfs/$* $(TOPDIR)/include/xfs/$(notdir $*)
+
+support/crc32table.h: support/gen_crc32table.c
+	@echo "    [CC]     support/gen_crc32table"
+	$(Q) $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o support/gen_crc32table $<
 	@echo "    [GENERATE] $@"
-	$(Q) ./gen_crc32table > crc32table.h
+	$(Q) support/gen_crc32table > support/crc32table.h
 
 # The selftest binary will return an error if it fails. This is made a
 # dependency of the build process so that we refuse to build the tools on broken
 # systems/architectures. Hence we make sure that xfsprogs will never use a
 # busted CRC calculation at build time and hence avoid putting bad CRCs down on
 # disk.
-crc32selftest: gen_crc32table.c crc32table.h crc32.c
+support/crc32selftest: $(addprefix support/, gen_crc32table.c crc32table.h crc32.c)
 	@echo "    [TEST]    CRC32"
-	$(Q) $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -D CRC32_SELFTEST=1 crc32.c -o $@
+	$(Q) $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -D CRC32_SELFTEST=1 support/crc32.c -o $@
 	$(Q) ./$@
 
-# set up include/xfs header directory
-xfs: $(addsuffix -hdrs, $(PKGHFILES) $(QAHFILES))
-
-%-hdrs:
-	$(Q)$(LN_S) -f $(PWD)/libxfs/$* $(TOPDIR)/include/xfs/$*
-
 include $(BUILDRULES)
 
 install: default
diff --git a/libxfs/cache.c b/libxfs/support/cache.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/cache.c
rename to libxfs/support/cache.c
diff --git a/libxfs/crc32.c b/libxfs/support/crc32.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/crc32.c
rename to libxfs/support/crc32.c
diff --git a/libxfs/crc32defs.h b/libxfs/support/crc32defs.h
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/crc32defs.h
rename to libxfs/support/crc32defs.h
diff --git a/libxfs/darwin.c b/libxfs/support/darwin.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/darwin.c
rename to libxfs/support/darwin.c
diff --git a/libxfs/freebsd.c b/libxfs/support/freebsd.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/freebsd.c
rename to libxfs/support/freebsd.c
diff --git a/libxfs/gen_crc32table.c b/libxfs/support/gen_crc32table.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/gen_crc32table.c
rename to libxfs/support/gen_crc32table.c
diff --git a/libxfs/init.c b/libxfs/support/init.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/init.c
rename to libxfs/support/init.c
diff --git a/libxfs/init.h b/libxfs/support/init.h
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/init.h
rename to libxfs/support/init.h
diff --git a/libxfs/irix.c b/libxfs/support/irix.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/irix.c
rename to libxfs/support/irix.c
diff --git a/libxfs/kmem.c b/libxfs/support/kmem.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/kmem.c
rename to libxfs/support/kmem.c
diff --git a/libxfs/libxfs_io.h b/libxfs/support/libxfs_io.h
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/libxfs_io.h
rename to libxfs/support/libxfs_io.h
diff --git a/libxfs/linux.c b/libxfs/support/linux.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/linux.c
rename to libxfs/support/linux.c
diff --git a/libxfs/logitem.c b/libxfs/support/logitem.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/logitem.c
rename to libxfs/support/logitem.c
diff --git a/libxfs/radix-tree.c b/libxfs/support/radix-tree.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/radix-tree.c
rename to libxfs/support/radix-tree.c
diff --git a/libxfs/rdwr.c b/libxfs/support/rdwr.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/rdwr.c
rename to libxfs/support/rdwr.c
diff --git a/libxfs/trans.c b/libxfs/support/trans.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/trans.c
rename to libxfs/support/trans.c
diff --git a/libxfs/util.c b/libxfs/support/util.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/util.c
rename to libxfs/support/util.c
diff --git a/libxfs/xfs.h b/libxfs/support/xfs.h
similarity index 100%
rename from libxfs/xfs.h
rename to libxfs/support/xfs.h
diff --git a/include/xfs_arch.h b/libxfs/support/xfs_arch.h
similarity index 100%
rename from include/xfs_arch.h
rename to libxfs/support/xfs_arch.h
diff --git a/include/xfs_btree_trace.h b/libxfs/support/xfs_btree_trace.h
similarity index 100%
rename from include/xfs_btree_trace.h
rename to libxfs/support/xfs_btree_trace.h
diff --git a/include/xfs_inode.h b/libxfs/support/xfs_inode.h
similarity index 100%
rename from include/xfs_inode.h
rename to libxfs/support/xfs_inode.h
diff --git a/include/xfs_mount.h b/libxfs/support/xfs_mount.h
similarity index 100%
rename from include/xfs_mount.h
rename to libxfs/support/xfs_mount.h
diff --git a/include/xfs_trace.h b/libxfs/support/xfs_trace.h
similarity index 100%
rename from include/xfs_trace.h
rename to libxfs/support/xfs_trace.h
diff --git a/include/xfs_trans.h b/libxfs/support/xfs_trans.h
similarity index 100%
rename from include/xfs_trans.h
rename to libxfs/support/xfs_trans.h