diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a2326287d8..0e73489820 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -146,6 +146,13 @@ def remove_output(*sources):
             "-DBUILD_TESTING=OFF",
             "-DPYBIND11_NOPYTHON=ON",
         ]
+        if "CMAKE_ARGS" in os.environ:
+            fcommand = [
+                c
+                for c in os.environ["CMAKE_ARGS"].split()
+                if "DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX" not in c
+            ]
+            cmd += fcommand
         cmake_opts = dict(cwd=DIR, stdout=sys.stdout, stderr=sys.stderr)
         subprocess.check_call(cmd, **cmake_opts)
         subprocess.check_call(["cmake", "--install", tmpdir], **cmake_opts)