diff --git a/docs/build.rst b/docs/build.rst
index 36fc632a2..d0df97d75 100644
--- a/docs/build.rst
+++ b/docs/build.rst
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Build from source
   :alt: Build status
   :target: https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/actions?query=workflow%3ACI
 
+.. highlight:: sh
 
 |kitty| is designed to run from source, for easy hack-ability. Make sure
 the following dependencies are installed first.
@@ -105,7 +106,7 @@ make them available in the newly spawned shell.
 Then proceed with ``make`` or ``make app`` according to the platform specific instructions above.
 
 
-Note for Linux/macOS packagers
+Notes for Linux/macOS packagers
 ----------------------------------
 
 The released |kitty| source code is available as a `tarball`_ from
@@ -143,7 +144,27 @@ This applies to creating packages for |kitty| for macOS package managers such as
 brew or MacPorts as well.
 
 
-.. note::
+Changing defaults for packages
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+|kitty| has its defaults chosen to be suitable for a standalone distributable.
+If you are packaging it a few of these might need to be changed.
+
+update-checking
    |kitty| has its own update check mechanism, if you would like to turn
-   it off for your package, use
-   ``python3 setup.py linux-package --update-check-interval=0``
+   it off for your package, use::
+
+       ./setup.py linux-package --update-check-interval=0
+
+shell-integration
+   |kitty| by default installs its :ref:`shell_integration` files into the user's
+   rc files. For a package, it might make more sense to distribute the shell
+   integration scripts into the system-wide shell vendor locations. The
+   shell integration files are found in the :file:`shell-integration`
+   directory. Copy them to the system wide shell vendor locations for each
+   shell, and use::
+
+       ./setup.py linux-package --shell-integration=enabled\ no-rc
+
+   This will prevent kitty from modifying the user's shell rc files to load
+   the integration scripts.
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index b326d947c..33b5db15e 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ class Options(argparse.Namespace):
     extra_logging: List[str] = []
     extra_include_dirs: List[str] = []
     link_time_optimization: bool = 'KITTY_NO_LTO' not in os.environ
-    update_check_interval: float = 24
+    update_check_interval: float = 24.0
+    shell_integration: str = 'enabled'
     egl_library: Optional[str] = os.getenv('KITTY_EGL_LIBRARY')
     startup_notification_library: Optional[str] = os.getenv('KITTY_STARTUP_NOTIFICATION_LIBRARY')
     canberra_library: Optional[str] = os.getenv('KITTY_CANBERRA_LIBRARY')
@@ -1113,13 +1114,23 @@ def package(args: Options, bundle_type: str) -> None:
     shutil.copytree('kittens', os.path.join(libdir, 'kittens'), ignore=src_ignore)
     if for_freeze:
         shutil.copytree('kitty_tests', os.path.join(libdir, 'kitty_tests'))
-    if args.update_check_interval != 24.0:
-        with open(os.path.join(libdir, 'kitty/options/types.py'), 'r+', encoding='utf-8') as f:
-            raw = f.read()
-            nraw = raw.replace('update_check_interval: float = 24.0', f'update_check_interval: float = {args.update_check_interval!r}', 1)
-            if nraw == raw:
-                raise SystemExit('Failed to change the value of update_check_interval')
-            f.seek(0), f.truncate(), f.write(nraw)
+
+    def repl(name: str, raw: str, defval: Union[str, float], val: Union[str, float]) -> str:
+        if defval == val:
+            return raw
+        prefix = f'{name}: {type(defval).__name__} ='
+        nraw = raw.replace(f'{prefix} {defval!r}', f'{prefix} {val!r}', 1)
+        if nraw == raw:
+            raise SystemExit(f'Failed to change the value of {name}')
+        return nraw
+
+    with open(os.path.join(libdir, 'kitty/options/types.py'), 'r+', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        oraw = raw = f.read()
+        raw = repl('update_check_interval', raw, Options.update_check_interval, args.update_check_interval)
+        raw = repl('shell_integration', raw, Options.shell_integration, args.shell_integration)
+        if raw != oraw:
+            f.seek(0), f.truncate(), f.write(raw)
+
     compile_python(libdir)
     for root, dirs, files in os.walk(libdir):
         for f_ in files:
@@ -1237,6 +1248,13 @@ def option_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:  # {{{
         help='When building a package, the default value for the update_check_interval setting will'
         ' be set to this number. Use zero to disable update checking.'
     )
+    p.add_argument(
+        '--shell-integration',
+        type=str,
+        default=Options.shell_integration,
+        help='When building a package, the default value for the shell_integration setting will'
+        ' be set to this. Use "enabled no-rc" if you intend to install the shell integration scripts system wide.'
+    )
     p.add_argument(
         '--egl-library',
         type=str,