diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e92cfe9c..ae075985 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ kill
 libtool
 ltmain.sh
 m4/
+man-po/translated
 Makefile
 Makefile.in
 missing
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 781e3812..bbf0c7df 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -353,5 +353,3 @@ get-trans:
 	echo "Getting the latest translations from translationproject.org..."
 	rsync -Lrtvz  translationproject.org::tp/latest/procps-ng/  po
 	rsync -Lrtvz  translationproject.org::tp/latest/procps-ng-man/  man-po
-	rsync -Lrtvz  translationproject.org::tp/latest/procps-ng-man-ps/  man-po/ps
-	rsync -Lrtvz  translationproject.org::tp/latest/procps-ng-man-top/  man-po/top
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index bc84a0d3..4359dd88 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -42,6 +42,12 @@ AC_PROG_LN_S
 PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG
 AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
 
+AC_PATH_PROG(PO4A, po4a)
+if test "xPO4A" = "x" ; then
+    AM_CONDITIONAL(USE_PO4A, false)
+else
+    AM_CONDITIONAL(USE_PO4A, true)
+fi
 # Checks for header files.
 AC_HEADER_MAJOR
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([arpa/inet.h fcntl.h float.h langinfo.h libintl.h limits.h locale.h netinet/in.h stdint.h stdio_ext.h stdlib.h string.h sys/file.h sys/ioctl.h sys/param.h sys/time.h termios.h unistd.h utmp.h values.h wchar.h wctype.h])
diff --git a/man-po/Makefile.am b/man-po/Makefile.am
index 7bba57fe..2a5a08ba 100644
--- a/man-po/Makefile.am
+++ b/man-po/Makefile.am
@@ -1,141 +1,35 @@
 
-translate-templates: $(DIST_MAN_POTS)
-EXTRA_DIST = $(DIST_MAN_POTS) $(DIST_MAN_POS) $(DIST_translated_MANS)
+# *.po and *.pot are kept in VCS and generated by po4a-dist command
+# translated/* are put in distribution but not found in VCS
+#
+# run:
+#   make -C man-po po4a-dist
+# To update man page translations
+
+DIST_translated_MANS = $(shell find translated -name '*.[1-9]')
+
+EXTRA_DIST = po4a.cfg $(DIST_translated_MANS)
+
+if USE_PO4A
+
+po4a-dist:
+	-@po4a -M utf-8 -k 0 po4a.cfg
+endif
+
 
 get-trans:
 	rsync -Lrtvz  translationproject.org::tp/latest/procps-ng-man/  .
-	rsync -Lrtvz  translationproject.org::tp/latest/procps-ng-man-ps/  ps
-	rsync -Lrtvz  translationproject.org::tp/latest/procps-ng-man-top/  top
 
-translate-mans: $(translated_MANS)
+translated_langs = $(notdir $(wildcard translated/*))
 
-base_langs = $(patsubst %.po,%,$(wildcard *.po))
-top_langs = $(patsubst %.po,%,$(notdir $(wildcard top/*.po)))
-ps_langs = $(patsubst %.po,%,$(notdir $(wildcard ps/*.po)))
-all_langs = $(base_langs) $(top_langs) $(ps_langs)
-DIST_MAN_POS = $(wildcard *.po) $(wildcard top/*.po) $(wildcard ps/*.po)
-DIST_translated_MANS = 	$(shell find . -name '*.[1-9]')
-MAN_SECTIONS = 1 5 8
-MAN_PAGES = free.1 kill.1 pgrep.1 pidof.1 pkill.1 pmap.1 pwdx.1 skill.1 slabtop.1 \
-	    tload.1 uptime.1 w.1 watch.1 \
-	    sysctl.conf.5 \
-	    sysctl.8 vmstat.8
-man1_pages := $(foreach man,$(filter %.1, $(MAN_PAGES)), man1/$(man))
-man5_pages := $(foreach man,$(filter %.5, $(MAN_PAGES)), man5/$(man))
-man8_pages := $(foreach man,$(filter %.8, $(MAN_PAGES)), man8/$(man))
-
-man_pages = $(man1_pages) $(man8_pages)
-
-man_paths = $(foreach lang, $(base_langs), $(foreach section,$(MAN_SECTIONS),$(lang)/man$(section))) \
-	    $(foreach lang, $(top_langs), $(lang)/man1) \
-	    $(foreach lang, $(ps_langs), $(lang)/man1)
-translated_MANS :=$(foreach lang,$(base_langs), $(foreach manpage,$(man_pages),$(lang)/$(manpage)))
-translated_MANS +=$(foreach lang,$(top_langs), $(lang)/man1/top.1)
-translated_MANS +=$(foreach lang,$(ps_langs), $(lang)/man1/ps.1)
-
-PO4A_UPDATEPO = po4a-updatepo
-PO4A_TRANSLATE = po4a-translate
-translate_manpage = $(PO4A_TRANSLATE) -o translate_joined=MT -o noarg=ME -f man -m $< -p $*.po -l $@
-
-CLEANFILES = $(DIST_MAN_POTS) $(translated_MANS)
-maintainer-clean-local:
-	-rm -rf $(all_langs)
-
-MAN_PS_POT = template-man-ps.pot
-MAN_PS_POT_FILES = $(top_srcdir)/ps/ps.1
-MAN_TOP_POT = template-man-top.pot
-MAN_TOP_POT_FILES = $(top_srcdir)/top/top.1
-MAN_POT = template-man.pot
-MAN_POT_FILES = $(top_srcdir)/free.1 $(top_srcdir)/kill.1 $(top_srcdir)/pgrep.1 \
-		  $(top_srcdir)/pidof.1 $(top_srcdir)/pkill.1 $(top_srcdir)/pmap.1 \
-		  $(top_srcdir)/pwdx.1 $(top_srcdir)/skill.1 $(top_srcdir)/slabtop.1 \
-		  $(top_srcdir)/snice.1 $(top_srcdir)/sysctl.8 $(top_srcdir)/uptime.1 \
-		  $(top_srcdir)/sysctl.conf.5 $(top_srcdir)/tload.1 \
-		  $(top_srcdir)/vmstat.8 $(top_srcdir)/w.1 $(top_srcdir)/watch.1
-DIST_MAN_POTS = $(MAN_PS_POT) $(MAN_TOP_POT) $(MAN_POT)
-
-$(MAN_PS_POT): $(MAN_PS_POT_FILES)
-	$(eval po4a_manfiles := $(foreach manfile,$^,$(addprefix -m , $(manfile))))
-	$(PO4A_UPDATEPO) -o translate_joined=MT -o noarg=ME -f man $(po4a_manfiles) -p $@
-
-$(MAN_TOP_POT): $(MAN_TOP_POT_FILES)
-	$(eval po4a_manfiles := $(foreach manfile,$^,$(addprefix -m , $(manfile))))
-	$(PO4A_UPDATEPO) -o translate_joined=MT -o noarg=ME -f man $(po4a_manfiles) -p $@
-
-$(MAN_POT): $(MAN_POT_FILES)
-	$(eval po4a_manfiles := $(foreach manfile,$^,$(addprefix -m , $(manfile))))
-	$(PO4A_UPDATEPO) -o translate_joined=MT -o noarg=ME -f man $(po4a_manfiles) -p $@
-
-man_MANS := $(foreach lang, $(all_langs), $(foreach section, $(MAN_SECTIONS), $(wildcard $(lang)/man$(section)/*.$(section))))
-dist-hook: translate-mans
-	echo $(translated_MANS)
-
-
-install-data-local: translate-mans
-	for l in $(base_langs) ; do \
-	    for sect in `ls $$l` ; do \
+install-data-local:
+	for l in $(translated_langs) ; do \
+	    for sect in `ls translated/$$l` ; do \
 	      $(MKDIR_P) $(DESTDIR)$(mandir)/$$l/$$sect ; \
-	      for file in `ls $$l/$$sect` ; do \
-	          $(INSTALL_DATA) $$l/$$sect/$$file $(DESTDIR)$(mandir)/$$l/$$sect ; \
+	      for file in `ls translated/$$l/$$sect` ; do \
+	          $(INSTALL_DATA) $$file $(DESTDIR)$(mandir)/$$l/$$sect ; \
               done ; \
             done ; \
 	done
 
-# My Makefile-fu fails me here, I cannot see how to have double-wildcards
-# or have rules and recipies split
-#
-%/man1/top.1: ../top/top.1 top/%.po
-	$(PO4A_TRANSLATE) -f man -m $< -p top/$*.po -l $@
-
-%/man1/ps.1: ../ps/ps.1 ps/%.po
-	$(PO4A_TRANSLATE) -f man -m $< -p ps/$*.po -l $@
-
-%/man1/free.1: ../free.1 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man1/kill.1: ../kill.1 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man1/pgrep.1: ../pgrep.1 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man1/pidof.1: ../pidof.1 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man1/pkill.1: ../pkill.1 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man1/pmap.1: ../pmap.1 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man1/pwdx.1: ../pwdx.1 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man1/skill.1: ../skill.1 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man1/slabtop.1: ../slabtop.1 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man1/tload.1: ../tload.1 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man1/uptime.1: ../uptime.1 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man1/w.1: ../w.1 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man1/watch.1: ../watch.1 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man5/sysctl.conf.5: ../sysctl.conf.5 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man8/sysctl.8: ../sysctl.8 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-%/man8/vmstat.8: ../vmstat.8 %.po
-	$(translate_manpage)
-
-.PHONY = translate-mans dist-man-paths
+.PHONY = translated_langs get-trans po4a-dist
diff --git a/man-po/po4a.cfg b/man-po/po4a.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e0c12395
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man-po/po4a.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+[po_directory] .
+
+[type: man] ../free.1 $lang:translated/$lang/free.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../kill.1 $lang:translated/$lang/kill.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../pgrep.1 $lang:translated/$lang/pgrep.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../pidof.1 $lang:translated/$lang/pidof.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../pmap.1 $lang:translated/$lang/pmap.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../pwdx.1 $lang:translated/$lang/pwdx.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../skill.1 $lang:translated/$lang/skill.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../slabtop.1 $lang:translated/$lang/slabtop.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../sysctl.8 $lang:translated/$lang/sysctl.8 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../sysctl.conf.5 $lang:translated/$lang/sysctl.conf.5 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../tload.1 $lang:translated/$lang/tload.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../uptime.1 $lang:translated/$lang/uptime.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../vmstat.8 $lang:translated/$lang/vmstat.8 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../w.1 $lang:translated/$lang/w.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../watch.1 $lang:translated/$lang/watch.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../ps/ps.1 $lang:translated/$lang/ps.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+
+[type: man] ../top/top.1 $lang:translated/$lang/top.1 \
+            add_$lang:?add_$lang/$lang.add opt:"-k 80"
+#../watch.1