diff --git a/bin/run-example b/bin/run-example
index 68a35702eddd3..65c2f81cced0c 100755
--- a/bin/run-example
+++ b/bin/run-example
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 SCALA_VERSION=2.10
 
 FWDIR="$(cd `dirname $0`/..; pwd)"
-export SPARK_HOME="$FWDIR"
+export SPARK_HOME=${SPARK_HOME:-"$FWDIR"}
 EXAMPLES_DIR="$FWDIR"/examples
 
 if [ -n "$1" ]; then
diff --git a/bin/spark-submit b/bin/spark-submit
index 9e7cecedd0325..1dff5d23ab30a 100755
--- a/bin/spark-submit
+++ b/bin/spark-submit
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 #
 
-export SPARK_HOME="$(cd `dirname $0`/..; pwd)"
+export SPARK_HOME=${SPARK_HOME:-"$(cd `dirname $0`/..; pwd)"}
 ORIG_ARGS=("$@")
 
 while (($#)); do