diff --git a/sphinx/ext/pngmath.py b/sphinx/ext/pngmath.py
index 9f628e110..ae6cab7d1 100644
--- a/sphinx/ext/pngmath.py
+++ b/sphinx/ext/pngmath.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import shlex
 import shutil
 import tempfile
 import posixpath
-from os import path
+from os import path, getcwd, chdir
 from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
 try:
     from hashlib import sha1 as sha
@@ -96,9 +96,15 @@ def render_math(self, math):
     tf.write(latex)
     tf.close()
 
+    # build latex command.  old versions of latex don't have the
+    # --output-directory option, so we have to manually chdir to the
+    # temp dir to run it.
     ltx_args = shlex.split(self.builder.config.pngmath_latex)
-    ltx_args += ['--interaction=nonstopmode', '--output-directory=' + tempdir,
-                 'math.tex']
+    ltx_args += ['--interaction=nonstopmode', 'math.tex']
+
+    curdir = getcwd()
+    chdir(tempdir)
+
     try:
         p = Popen(ltx_args, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE)
     except OSError, err:
@@ -110,6 +116,9 @@ def render_math(self, math):
                               self.builder.config.pngmath_latex)
             self.builder._mathpng_warned_latex = True
         return relfn, None
+    finally:
+        chdir(curdir)
+
     stdout, stderr = p.communicate()
     if p.returncode != 0:
         raise MathExtError('latex exited with error:\n[stderr]\n%s\n[stdout]\n%s'