diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index e89523c0..a331832b 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -7,14 +7,33 @@ SUBDIRS		= kconfig
 
 bin_SCRIPTS		= ct-ng
 CLEANFILES		= $(bin_SCRIPTS)
-EXTRA_DIST		= ct-ng.in bootstrap
+EXTRA_DIST		= ct-ng.in bootstrap docs/ct-ng.1.in
 
 man1_MANS	= docs/ct-ng.1
 
 # paths.sh generated by configure
 nobase_dist_pkgdata_DATA = $(verbatim_data) paths.sh
 
+USER_MANUAL_FILES = \
+	docs/manual/1_Introduction.md \
+	docs/manual/2_Installation.md \
+	docs/manual/3_Configuration.md \
+	docs/manual/4_Building.md \
+	docs/manual/5_Toolchain_Usage.md \
+	docs/manual/6_Toolchain_Types.md \
+	docs/manual/7_Contributing.md \
+	docs/manual/8_Internals.md \
+	docs/manual/9_Toolchain_Construction.md \
+	docs/manual/A_Credits.md \
+	docs/manual/B_Known_issues.md \
+	docs/manual/C_Setup_OS.md \
+	docs/manual/D_Tutorials_features.md
 
+if INSTALL_USER_MANUAL
+doc_DATA		= $(USER_MANUAL_FILES)
+else
+doc_DATA		= docs/MANUAL_ONLINE
+endif
 
 do_subst		= ( @SED@ \
 			-e 's,[@]docdir[@],$(docdir),g' \
@@ -30,4 +49,4 @@ docs/ct-ng.1: docs/ct-ng.1.in
 	$(AM_V_GEN)$(MKDIR_P) docs && $(do_subst) < $< >$@-t && mv -f $@-t $@
 
 dist-hook: maintainer/download-docs.sh
-	$< $(top_distdir)
+	$< $(top_distdir) $(USER_MANUAL_FILES)
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 51e582e3..c7b6f5a0 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 AC_PREREQ([2.67])
 
 # FIXME Temporary hack until the next release (we'll switch to plain numeric tags then)
-# TBD need to quote sed expression
+# FIXME need to quote sed expression
 AC_INIT(
     [crosstool-NG],
     [m4_esyscmd_s([git describe --always --dirty | sed s,^crosstool-ng-,,])],
@@ -14,13 +14,16 @@ AC_INIT(
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([scripts])
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 
-# TBD try to use gnu strictness? Just add the missing files?
+# FIXME try to use gnu strictness? Just add the missing files?
 # Set automake defaults:
 # - Tarballs are compressed with xz and bzip2
 # - Object files are generated in a subdirectory (new default in automake)
 # - Request new tar format (old, tar-v7, breaks on long paths we have)
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([-Wall -Werror foreign no-dist-gzip dist-xz dist-bzip2 subdir-objects tar-pax])
 
+# Safety check per autoconf best practices
+AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([ct-ng.in])
+
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Allow dummy --{en,dis}able-{static,shared}
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(
@@ -274,6 +277,11 @@ AH_BOTTOM([
 AX_BUILD_DATE_EPOCH(DATE, [%c])
 AC_SUBST([DATE])
 
+AM_CONDITIONAL([INSTALL_USER_MANUAL], [test ! -f "${srcdir}/docs/MANUAL_ONLINE"])
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([if the manual needs to be installed])
+AM_COND_IF([INSTALL_USER_MANUAL], [AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])], [AC_MSG_RESULT([no])])
+
+# FIXME Retire? We don't want to debug a version that has been mislabeled by a user
 # Decorate the version string per user-supplied version.sh, if any
 AS_IF(
     [test -f version.sh -a -x version.sh],
diff --git a/docs/MANUAL_ONLINE b/docs/MANUAL_ONLINE
index 3f36b42d..8457b205 100644
--- a/docs/MANUAL_ONLINE
+++ b/docs/MANUAL_ONLINE
@@ -1 +1,4 @@
-http://crosstool-ng.github.io/docs
+This is a development version of crosstool-NG. It does not ship with
+a user manual; please refer to the online documentation at:
+
+   http://crosstool-ng.github.io/docs
diff --git a/maintainer/download-docs.sh b/maintainer/download-docs.sh
index 5ef3c6ab..3514a574 100755
--- a/maintainer/download-docs.sh
+++ b/maintainer/download-docs.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-distdir=${1:-.}
+# Usage:
+#  download-docs.sh TOP-LEVEL-DIR MANUAL-FILES...
+distdir=${1}
+shift
 
 # Configurable portions
 docs_git=https://github.com/crosstool-ng/crosstool-ng.github.io.git
@@ -12,7 +15,16 @@ git clone --depth=1 "${docs_git}" "${distdir}/site-docs"
 
 # Copy the docs instead of the MANUAL_ONLINE placeholder
 mkdir -p "${distdir}/docs/manual"
-for i in "${distdir}/site-docs/${docs_subdir}/"*.md; do
+while [ -n "${1}" ]; do
+    case "${1}" in
+        docs/manual/*) ;;
+        *) echo "Expected file not in docs/manual/: $1" >&2; exit 1;;
+    esac
+    input="${distdir}/site-docs/${docs_subdir}/${1#docs/manual/}"
+    if [ ! -r "${input}" ]; then
+        echo "Not found: ${1}" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
     awk '
 BEGIN   { skip=0; }
         {
@@ -30,6 +42,18 @@ BEGIN   { skip=0; }
                 print $0
             }
         }
-' < "${i}" > "${distdir}/docs/manual/${i##*/}"
+    ' < "${input}" > "${distdir}/${1}"
+    rm -f "${input}"
+    shift
 done
+extra_md_pages=false
+for i in "${distdir}/site-docs/${docs_subdir}/"*.md; do
+    if [ -r "${i}" ]; then
+        echo "Unpackaged page in the manual: ${i#${distdir}/site-docs/${docs_subdir}/}"
+        extra_md_files=true
+    fi
+done
+if [ "${extra_md_files}" = "true" ]; then
+    exit 1
+fi
 rm -rf "${distdir}/site-docs"
diff --git a/samples/samples.mk b/samples/samples.mk
index 178e5378..aafac488 100644
--- a/samples/samples.mk
+++ b/samples/samples.mk
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ CT_UPDATE_SAMPLES := no
 # This part deals with the samples help entries
 
 help-config::
+	@echo  '  show-config        - show a brief overview of current configuration'
 	@echo  '  saveconfig         - Save current config as a preconfigured target'
 
 help-samples::