diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-native-client/src/CMakeLists.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-native-client/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 026be9f7b0b..a962f94f7c7 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-native-client/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-native-client/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -58,11 +58,19 @@ if(WIN32)
     # Omit unneeded headers.
     set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -DWIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN")
     set(OS_DIR ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/main/native/libhdfs/os/windows)
-    set(OUT_DIR target/bin)
+
+    # IMPORTANT: OUT_DIR MUST be relative to maven's
+    # project.build.directory (=target) and match dist-copynativelibs
+    # in order to be in a release
+    set(OUT_DIR bin)
 else()
     set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -fvisibility=hidden")
     set(OS_DIR ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/main/native/libhdfs/os/posix)
-    set(OUT_DIR target/usr/local/lib)
+
+    # IMPORTANT: OUT_DIR MUST be relative to maven's
+    # project.build.directory (=target) and match dist-copynativelibs
+    # in order to be in a release
+    set(OUT_DIR native/target/usr/local/lib)
 endif()
 
 # Configure JNI.