diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9a58bac15..c89426b52 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ In certain cases, the Liberty license code may need to be provided in order to i
 | licenseCode | Liberty profile license code. See [above](#install-liberty-task). | Yes, if `type` is `webProfile6` or `runtimeUrl` specifies a `.jar` file. |
 | version | Exact or wildcard version of the Liberty profile server to install. Available versions are listed in the [index.yml](http://public.dhe.ibm.com/ibmdl/export/pub/software/websphere/wasdev/downloads/wlp/index.yml) file. Only used if `runtimeUrl` is not set. The default value is `8.5.+`. | No |
 | runtimeUrl | URL to the Liberty profile's `.jar` or a `.zip` file. If not set, the Liberty repository will be used to find the Liberty runtime archive. | No |
-| baseDir | The base installation directory. The actual installation directory of Liberty profile will be `${baseDir}/wlp`. The default value is `.` (current working directory). | No | 
+| baseDir | The base installation directory. The actual installation directory of Liberty profile will be `${baseDir}/wlp`. The default value is `${project.buildDir}`. | No | 
 | cacheDir | The directory used for caching downloaded files such as the license or `.jar` files. The default value is `${java.io.tmpdir}/wlp-cache`. | No | 
 | username | Username needed for basic authentication. | No | 
 | password | Password needed for basic authentication. | No | 
@@ -489,4 +489,4 @@ liberty {
 }
 ```
 Note: If you want to delete files from `${wlp_output_dir}/workarea` and `${wlp_output_dir}/logs` directories, the server needs to be stopped. 
-```
\ No newline at end of file
+```
diff --git a/src/main/groovy/net/wasdev/wlp/gradle/plugins/extensions/InstallExtension.groovy b/src/main/groovy/net/wasdev/wlp/gradle/plugins/extensions/InstallExtension.groovy
index 3d19a76fa..3b33a03b8 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/net/wasdev/wlp/gradle/plugins/extensions/InstallExtension.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/net/wasdev/wlp/gradle/plugins/extensions/InstallExtension.groovy
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ class InstallExtension {
     String licenseCode
     String version = "8.5.+"
     String runtimeUrl
-    String baseDir = "."
+    String baseDir
     String cacheDir
     String username
     String password
diff --git a/src/main/groovy/net/wasdev/wlp/gradle/plugins/tasks/AbstractTask.groovy b/src/main/groovy/net/wasdev/wlp/gradle/plugins/tasks/AbstractTask.groovy
index 5624e471b..7acfa3adb 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/net/wasdev/wlp/gradle/plugins/tasks/AbstractTask.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/net/wasdev/wlp/gradle/plugins/tasks/AbstractTask.groovy
@@ -33,12 +33,13 @@ abstract class AbstractTask extends DefaultTask {
     protected Map<String, String> buildLibertyMap(Project project) {
         Map<String, String> result = new HashMap();
         result.put('serverName', project.liberty.serverName)
-        def libertyUserDirFile = getUserDir(project)
-        if (!libertyUserDirFile.isDirectory()) {
-            libertyUserDirFile.mkdirs()
-        }
-        result.put('userDir', libertyUserDirFile)
-        result.put('installDir', project.liberty.wlpDir)
+
+        def installDir = getInstallDir(project)
+        result.put('installDir', installDir)
+
+        def userDir = getUserDir(project, installDir)
+        result.put('userDir', userDir)
+
         if (project.liberty.outputDir != null) {
             result.put('outputDir', project.liberty.outputDir)
         }          
@@ -49,9 +50,20 @@ abstract class AbstractTask extends DefaultTask {
         return result;
     }
 
-    protected File getUserDir(Project project) {
-        String wlpDir = project.liberty.wlpDir == null ? "" : project.liberty.wlpDir
-        return (project.liberty.userDir == null) ? new File(wlpDir, 'usr') : new File(project.liberty.userDir)
+    protected File getInstallDir(Project project) {
+        if (project.liberty.wlpDir == null) {
+           if (project.liberty.install.baseDir == null) {
+               return new File(project.buildDir, 'wlp')
+           } else {
+               return new File(project.liberty.install.baseDir, 'wlp')
+           }
+        } else {
+           return new File(project.liberty.wlpDir)
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected File getUserDir(Project project, File installDir) {
+        return (project.liberty.userDir == null) ? new File(installDir, 'usr') : new File(project.liberty.userDir)
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main/groovy/net/wasdev/wlp/gradle/plugins/tasks/InstallLibertyTask.groovy b/src/main/groovy/net/wasdev/wlp/gradle/plugins/tasks/InstallLibertyTask.groovy
index 9e8e4f5ac..1145a72f5 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/net/wasdev/wlp/gradle/plugins/tasks/InstallLibertyTask.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/net/wasdev/wlp/gradle/plugins/tasks/InstallLibertyTask.groovy
@@ -31,14 +31,21 @@ class InstallLibertyTask extends AbstractTask {
 
     private Map<String, String> buildInstallLibertyMap(Project project) {
         Map<String, String> result = new HashMap();
-        result.put('licenseCode', project.liberty.install.licenseCode)
+        if (project.liberty.install.licenseCode != null) {
+           result.put('licenseCode', project.liberty.install.licenseCode)
+        }
+
         result.put('version', project.liberty.install.version)
 
         if (project.liberty.install.runtimeUrl != null) {
             result.put('runtimeUrl', project.liberty.install.runtimeUrl)
         }
 
-        result.put('baseDir', project.liberty.install.baseDir)
+        if (project.liberty.install.baseDir == null) {
+           result.put('baseDir', project.buildDir)
+        } else {
+           result.put('baseDir', project.liberty.install.baseDir)
+        }
 
         if (project.liberty.install.cacheDir != null) {
             result.put('cacheDir', project.liberty.install.cacheDir)