diff --git a/tools/multi/c/Makefile b/tools/multi/c/Makefile
index c3c84767950..0d4f21fbb18 100644
--- a/tools/multi/c/Makefile
+++ b/tools/multi/c/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (c) 2009 IBM Corp. and Others. All Rights Reserved
+# Copyright (c) 2009-2010 IBM Corp. and Others. All Rights Reserved
 # multicu/c makefile
 
 all:
@@ -31,9 +31,6 @@ APRECIOUS=$(ICUVERS:%=$(BLD)/%/$(S_SRC)) $(ICUVERS:%=$(BLD)/%/$(S_BLD)) $(ICUVER
 
 tehprecious:
 	echo $(APRECIOUS)
-	
-$(M_TMP):
-	-mkdir $(M_TMP)
 
 $(M_TMP) $(BLD) $(INS):
 	mkdir $(M_TMP)
@@ -55,7 +52,7 @@ $(BLD)/%/$(S_SRC): $(ICUS)/icu4c-%-src.tgz
 $(BLD)/%/$(S_BLD): $(BLD)/%/$(S_SRC)
 	-mkdir -p $(INS)
 	-chmod a+rx $(BLD)/$*/icu/source/configure $(BLD)/$*/icu/source/runConfigureICU
-	( cd $(BLD)/$*/icu/source ; `ICU_VER="$*" $(ICUCONF)` --disable-renaming --enable-shared --disable-static --enable-release --disable-debug --prefix=$(INS)/$* )
+	( cd $(BLD)/$*/icu/source ; `$(ICUCONF) "$(BLD)/$*/icu/source" "$*"` --disable-renaming --enable-shared --disable-static --enable-release --disable-debug --prefix=$(INS)/$* )
 	touch -c $@
 
 $(INS)/%/bin/$(TARGET): $(INS)/%/$(S_INS) $(SRCS)
@@ -76,6 +73,6 @@ allicus: $(BLD) $(ALLICUS)
 
 
 all-icus: iicus
-	
+
 iicus: $(BLD) $(IICUS)
 
diff --git a/tools/multi/readme.txt b/tools/multi/readme.txt
index 8cebca8195a..defcad59b28 100644
--- a/tools/multi/readme.txt
+++ b/tools/multi/readme.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/cat
-# Copyright (c) 2009 IBM Corp. and Others. All Rights Reserved
+# Copyright (c) 2009-2010 IBM Corp. and Others. All Rights Reserved
 #
 
  This directory contains pieces of the 'MultiIcu' feature, which contains
@@ -29,3 +29,21 @@ to the top level directory here, 'multi/'.
                        (See individual readmes under each project.)
  multi/proj/chello/  C "hello world" against multiple ICUs
  multi/proj/jhello/  J "hello world" against multiple ICUs
+
+--
+HOW TO USE
+
+1. Copy some ICU source files into multi/packages/
+
+2. in "multi/c"  run "make iicus" - this will take a while.
+
+3.To verify the ICU build, in "multi/proj/chello",  run "make check".
+
+   You should see output like this:
+
+       out/3_8_1.txt:  ICU 3.8.1
+       out/4_2_0_1.txt:  ICU 4.2
+       out/4_4_1.txt:  ICU 4.4.1
+
+4. The 'Provider' project is more complex. To see its information, see
+the readme in that directory.