diff --git a/doc/build-unix.md b/doc/build-unix.md
index 5e3292423..253c09492 100644
--- a/doc/build-unix.md
+++ b/doc/build-unix.md
@@ -117,13 +117,33 @@ miniupnpc
 
 Berkeley DB
 -----------
-You need Berkeley DB 5.1.  If you have to build Berkeley DB yourself:
+It is recommended to use Berkeley DB 5.1. If you have to build it yourself:
 
-	cd build_unix/
-	../dist/configure --enable-cxx
-	make
-	sudo make install
+```bash
+BITCOIN_ROOT=$(pwd)
 
+# Pick some path to install BDB to, here we create a directory within the bitcoin directory
+BDB_PREFIX="${BITCOIN_ROOT}/db5"
+mkdir -p $BDB_PREFIX
+
+# Fetch the source and verify that it is not tampered with
+wget 'http://download.oracle.com/berkeley-db/db-5.1.29.NC.tar.gz'
+echo '08238e59736d1aacdd47cfb8e68684c695516c37f4fbe1b8267dde58dc3a576c  db-5.1.29.NC.tar.gz' | sha256sum -c
+# -> db-5.1.29.NC.tar.gz: OK
+tar -xzvf db-5.1.29.NC.tar.gz
+
+# Build the library and install to our prefix
+cd db-5.1.29.NC/build_unix/
+#  Note: Do a static build so that it can be embedded into the exectuable, instead of having to find a .so at runtime
+../dist/configure --enable-cxx --disable-shared --with-pic --prefix=$BDB_PREFIX
+make install
+
+# Configure Bitcoin Core to use our own-built instance of BDB
+cd $BITCOIN_ROOT
+./configure (other args...) LDFLAGS="-L${BDB_PREFIX}/lib/" CPPFLAGS="-I${BDB_PREFIX}/include/"
+```
+
+**Note**: You only need Berkeley DB if the wallet is enabled (see the section *Disable-Wallet mode* below).
 
 Boost
 -----