diff --git a/.vagrant-puppet/files/etc/httpd/conf.d/icingaweb.conf b/.vagrant-puppet/files/etc/httpd/conf.d/icingaweb.conf
index 16dd5e9cb..93b187b87 100644
--- a/.vagrant-puppet/files/etc/httpd/conf.d/icingaweb.conf
+++ b/.vagrant-puppet/files/etc/httpd/conf.d/icingaweb.conf
@@ -1,10 +1,21 @@
 <Directory "/var/www/html/icingaweb">
-    Options -Indexes
-
-    AllowOverride All
-
+    Options SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
+    AllowOverride None
     Order allow,deny
     Allow from all
 
+    # SetEnv ICINGAWEB_CONFIGDIR /etc/icingaweb
+
     EnableSendfile Off
+
+    RewriteEngine on
+    RewriteBase /icingaweb/
+    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -s [OR]
+    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l [OR]
+    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
+    RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
+    RewriteRule ^.*$ index.php [NC,L]
+
+    php_value xdebug.idekey PHPSTORM
 </Directory>
+
diff --git a/.vagrant-puppet/files/var/www/html/icingaweb/.htaccess b/.vagrant-puppet/files/var/www/html/icingaweb/.htaccess
deleted file mode 100644
index f5ea66435..000000000
--- a/.vagrant-puppet/files/var/www/html/icingaweb/.htaccess
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-RewriteEngine on
-RewriteBase /icingaweb
-RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -s [OR]
-RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l [OR]
-RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
-RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
-RewriteRule ^.*$ index.php [NC,L]
-
-php_flag short_open_tag on
-
-php_value xdebug.idekey PHPSTORM
diff --git a/.vagrant-puppet/manifests/default.pp b/.vagrant-puppet/manifests/default.pp
index fa85b48fd..040e5574b 100644
--- a/.vagrant-puppet/manifests/default.pp
+++ b/.vagrant-puppet/manifests/default.pp
@@ -767,12 +767,6 @@ file { '/var/www/html/icingaweb/css.php':
   ensure => absent,
 }
 
-file { '/var/www/html/icingaweb/.htaccess':
-  source    => 'puppet:////vagrant/.vagrant-puppet/files/var/www/html/icingaweb/.htaccess',
-  owner     => 'apache',
-  group     => 'apache',
-}
-
 file { '/etc/httpd/conf.d/icingaweb.conf':
   source    => 'puppet:////vagrant/.vagrant-puppet/files/etc/httpd/conf.d/icingaweb.conf',
   require   => Package['apache'],
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 07073a2de..d1738226a 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -2950,7 +2950,7 @@ fi
 #
 #   Create config files
 #
-ac_config_files="$ac_config_files Makefile config/authentication.ini config/config.ini config/resources.ini config/modules/monitoring/backends.ini config/modules/monitoring/instances.ini etc/apache/icingaweb.conf public/.htaccess public/index.php"
+ac_config_files="$ac_config_files Makefile config/authentication.ini config/config.ini config/resources.ini config/modules/monitoring/backends.ini config/modules/monitoring/instances.ini etc/apache/icingaweb.conf public/index.php"
 
 
 #
@@ -3669,7 +3669,6 @@ do
     "config/modules/monitoring/backends.ini") CONFIG_FILES="$CONFIG_FILES config/modules/monitoring/backends.ini" ;;
     "config/modules/monitoring/instances.ini") CONFIG_FILES="$CONFIG_FILES config/modules/monitoring/instances.ini" ;;
     "etc/apache/icingaweb.conf") CONFIG_FILES="$CONFIG_FILES etc/apache/icingaweb.conf" ;;
-    "public/.htaccess") CONFIG_FILES="$CONFIG_FILES public/.htaccess" ;;
     "public/index.php") CONFIG_FILES="$CONFIG_FILES public/index.php" ;;
 
   *) as_fn_error $? "invalid argument: \`$ac_config_target'" "$LINENO" 5;;
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 42a37f3dc..3ae33025d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -440,7 +440,6 @@ AC_CONFIG_FILES([
     config/modules/monitoring/backends.ini
     config/modules/monitoring/instances.ini
     etc/apache/icingaweb.conf
-    public/.htaccess
     public/index.php
 ])
 
diff --git a/etc/apache/icingaweb.conf.in b/etc/apache/icingaweb.conf.in
index 7c87a2d11..69335368e 100644
--- a/etc/apache/icingaweb.conf.in
+++ b/etc/apache/icingaweb.conf.in
@@ -1,12 +1,21 @@
-Alias @web_path@ @prefix@/public
+Alias @web_path@ "@prefix@/public"
+
 <Directory "@prefix@/public">
-    Options -Indexes
-
-    AllowOverride All
-
+    Options SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
+    AllowOverride None
     Order allow,deny
     Allow from all
 
+    SetEnv ICINGAWEB_CONFIGDIR @icingaweb_config_path@
+
     EnableSendfile Off
+
+    RewriteEngine on
+    RewriteBase @web_path@/
+    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -s [OR]
+    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l [OR]
+    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
+    RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
+    RewriteRule ^.*$ index.php [NC,L]
 </Directory>
 
diff --git a/icingaweb2.spec b/icingaweb2.spec
index 385be86e6..b1cb3d2e5 100644
--- a/icingaweb2.spec
+++ b/icingaweb2.spec
@@ -164,9 +164,8 @@ install -D -m0644 packages/rhel/etc/httpd/conf.d/icingaweb.conf %{buildroot}/%{a
 
 %{__cp} -r application library modules public %{buildroot}/%{sharedir}/
 
-# install index.php, .htaccess
+# install index.php
 install -m0644 packages/rhel/usr/share/icingaweb/public/index.php %{buildroot}/%{sharedir}/public/index.php
-install -m0644 packages/rhel/usr/share/icingaweb/public/.htaccess %{buildroot}/%{sharedir}/public/.htaccess
 
 # use the vagrant config for configuration for now - TODO
 %{__cp} -r .vagrant-puppet/files/etc/icingaweb %{buildroot}/%{_sysconfdir}/
@@ -183,8 +182,6 @@ install -D -m0755 bin/icingacli %{buildroot}/usr/bin/icingacli
 # install sql schema files as example
 
 # delete all *.in files
-rm -f %{buildroot}/%{_datadir}/%{name}/public/index.php.in
-rm -f %{buildroot}/%{_datadir}/%{name}/public/.htaccess.in
 
 %pre
 # Add apacheuser in the icingacmd group
diff --git a/public/.gitignore b/public/.gitignore
deleted file mode 100644
index 4c3d24e81..000000000
--- a/public/.gitignore
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-.htaccess
-index.php
diff --git a/public/.htaccess.in b/public/.htaccess.in
deleted file mode 100644
index a575ad6d3..000000000
--- a/public/.htaccess.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-RewriteEngine on
-RewriteBase @web_path@
-RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -s [OR]
-RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l [OR]
-RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
-RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
-RewriteRule ^.*$ index.php [NC,L]
diff --git a/public/index.php.in b/public/index.php
similarity index 57%
rename from public/index.php.in
rename to public/index.php
index a8a4f26a3..69b3dfce8 100644
--- a/public/index.php.in
+++ b/public/index.php
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
 <?php
 
-$_SERVER['ICINGAWEB_CONFIGDIR'] = '@icingaweb_config_path@';
 require_once dirname(__DIR__). '/library/Icinga/Application/webrouter.php';