https://github.com/vrothberg/vgrep/issues/130

--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -113,7 +113,8 @@ install: install-docs
 
 .PHONY: install-docs
 install-docs: docs
-	sudo cp docs/*.1 ${MAN_DIR}/man1/
+	mkdir -p ${MAN_DIR}/man1/
+	cp docs/*.1 ${MAN_DIR}/man1/
 
 .PHONY: uninstall
 uninstall: