diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 96fe60e0..1a8ac0b6 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ if (NOT DEFINED PIPER_PHONEMIZE_REPO)
   set(PIPER_PHONEMIZE_REPO "https://github.com/rhasspy/piper-phonemize")
 endif()
 
+set (PIPER_PHONEMIZE_DIR $ENV{PIPER_PHONEMIZE_DIR})
+
 if(NOT DEFINED PIPER_PHONEMIZE_DIR)
   set(PIPER_PHONEMIZE_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/pi")
   ExternalProject_Add(