diff --git a/source3/libsmb/libsmb_context.c b/source3/libsmb/libsmb_context.c
index 6c78cb9..0a73071 100644
--- a/source3/libsmb/libsmb_context.c
+++ b/source3/libsmb/libsmb_context.c
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ SMBC_module_init(void * punused)
 {
     bool conf_loaded = False;
     char *home = NULL;
+    char *conf = NULL;
     TALLOC_CTX *frame = talloc_stackframe();
 
     load_case_tables_library();
@@ -52,17 +53,29 @@ SMBC_module_init(void * punused)
 
     /* Here we would open the smb.conf file if needed ... */
 
-    home = getenv("HOME");
-    if (home) {
-        char *conf = NULL;
-        if (asprintf(&conf, "%s/.smb/smb.conf", home) > 0) {
-            if (lp_load_client(conf)) {
-                conf_loaded = True;
-            } else {
-                DEBUG(5, ("Could not load config file: %s\n",
-                          conf));
+    conf = getenv("SMB_CONF");
+    if (conf) {
+        if (lp_load_client(conf)) {
+            conf_loaded = True;
+        } else {
+            DEBUG(5, ("Could not load config file: %s\n",
+                      conf));
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (!conf_loaded) {
+        home = getenv("HOME");
+        if (home) {
+            char *conf = NULL;
+            if (asprintf(&conf, "%s/.smb/smb.conf", home) > 0) {
+                if (lp_load_client(conf)) {
+                    conf_loaded = True;
+                } else {
+                    DEBUG(5, ("Could not load config file: %s\n",
+                              conf));
+                }
+                SAFE_FREE(conf);
             }
-            SAFE_FREE(conf);
         }
     }