diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/bdist_dumb.py b/Lib/distutils/command/bdist_dumb.py
index f9c81fc..805aa0a 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/bdist_dumb.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/bdist_dumb.py
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
                     ('keep-tree', 'k',
                      "keep the pseudo-installation tree around after " +
                      "creating the distribution archive"),
+                    ('dist-dir=', 'd',
+                     "directory to put final built distributions in"),
                    ]
 
     default_format = { 'posix': 'gztar',
@@ -34,6 +36,7 @@
         self.bdist_dir = None
         self.format = None
         self.keep_tree = 0
+        self.dist_dir = None
 
     # initialize_options()
 
@@ -51,6 +54,8 @@
                       ("don't know how to create dumb built distributions " +
                        "on platform %s") % os.name
 
+        self.set_undefined_options('bdist', ('dist_dir', 'dist_dir'))
+
     # finalize_options()
 
 
@@ -71,7 +76,8 @@
                                       get_platform())
         print "self.bdist_dir = %s" % self.bdist_dir
         print "self.format = %s" % self.format
-        self.make_archive (archive_basename, self.format,
+        self.make_archive (os.path.join(self.dist_dir, archive_basename),
+                           self.format,
                            root_dir=self.bdist_dir)
 
         if not self.keep_tree: