diff --git a/src/main-executable/main.c b/src/main-executable/main.c
index 545da00f..2f87447d 100644
--- a/src/main-executable/main.c
+++ b/src/main-executable/main.c
@@ -390,7 +390,10 @@ static void open(GtkApplication *app, GFile **files, gint nfiles, const gchar *h
 
 	ret = stat(MICROG_APK_PATH_LOCAL, &dont_care);
 	errno_localdir = errno;
-	if (!ret) {
+	char *env_microg = getenv("MICROG_APK_PATH");
+	if (env_microg && access(env_microg, F_OK) == 0) {
+	    microg_apk = strdup(env_microg);
+	} else if (stat(MICROG_APK_PATH_LOCAL, &dont_care) == 0) {
 		microg_apk = strdup(MICROG_APK_PATH_LOCAL); // for running out of builddir; using strdup so we can always safely call free on this
 	} else {
 		char *microg_install_dir = malloc(strlen(dex_install_dir) + strlen(REL_MICROG_APK_INSTALL_PATH) + 1); // +1 for NULL