diff --git a/docs/flatten.md b/docs/flatten.md
index 7761f79d54..6a0bca539f 100644
--- a/docs/flatten.md
+++ b/docs/flatten.md
@@ -1162,7 +1162,7 @@ A given instance of this rule should be accompanied by a rust_toolchain_reposito
 | <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-edition"></a>edition |  The rust edition to be used by default.   | String | optional | "2015" |
 | <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-exec_triple"></a>exec_triple |  The Rust-style target that this compiler runs on   | String | required |  |
 | <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-extra_target_triples"></a>extra_target_triples |  Additional rust-style targets that this set of toolchains should support.   | List of strings | optional | [] |
-| <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-include_rustc_srcs"></a>include_rustc_srcs |  Whether to download and unpack the rustc source files. These are very large, and slow to unpack, but are required to support rust analyzer.   | Boolean | optional | False |
+| <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-include_rustc_srcs"></a>include_rustc_srcs |  Whether to download and unpack the rustc source files. These are very large, and slow to unpack, but are required to support rust analyzer. An environment variable <code>RULES_RUST_TOOLCHAIN_INCLUDE_RUSTC_SRCS</code> can also be used to control this attribute. This variable will take precedence over the hard coded attribute. Setting it to <code>true</code> to activates this attribute where all other values deactivate it.   | Boolean | optional | False |
 | <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-iso_date"></a>iso_date |  The date of the tool (or None, if the version is a specific version).   | String | optional | "" |
 | <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-repo_mapping"></a>repo_mapping |  A dictionary from local repository name to global repository name. This allows controls over workspace dependency resolution for dependencies of this repository.&lt;p&gt;For example, an entry <code>"@foo": "@bar"</code> declares that, for any time this repository depends on <code>@foo</code> (such as a dependency on <code>@foo//some:target</code>, it should actually resolve that dependency within globally-declared <code>@bar</code> (<code>@bar//some:target</code>).   | <a href="https://bazel.build/docs/skylark/lib/dict.html">Dictionary: String -> String</a> | required |  |
 | <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-rustfmt_version"></a>rustfmt_version |  The version of the tool among "nightly", "beta", or an exact version.   | String | optional | "" |
@@ -1564,7 +1564,7 @@ See `load_arbitrary_tool` in `@rules_rust//rust:repositories.bzl` for more detai
 | <a id="rust_repositories-edition"></a>edition |  The rust edition to be used by default (2015 (default) or 2018)   |  <code>None</code> |
 | <a id="rust_repositories-dev_components"></a>dev_components |  Whether to download the rustc-dev components (defaults to False). Requires version to be "nightly".   |  <code>False</code> |
 | <a id="rust_repositories-sha256s"></a>sha256s |  A dict associating tool subdirectories to sha256 hashes. Defaults to None.   |  <code>None</code> |
-| <a id="rust_repositories-include_rustc_srcs"></a>include_rustc_srcs |  Whether to download rustc's src code. This is required in order to use rust-analyzer support. Defaults to False.   |  <code>False</code> |
+| <a id="rust_repositories-include_rustc_srcs"></a>include_rustc_srcs |  Whether to download rustc's src code. This is required in order to use rust-analyzer support. See [rust_toolchain_repository.include_rustc_srcs](#rust_toolchain_repository-include_rustc_srcs). for more details   |  <code>False</code> |
 | <a id="rust_repositories-urls"></a>urls |  A list of mirror urls containing the tools from the Rust-lang static file server. These must contain the '{}' used to substitute the tool being fetched (using .format). Defaults to ['https://static.rust-lang.org/dist/{}.tar.gz']   |  <code>["https://static.rust-lang.org/dist/{}.tar.gz"]</code> |
 
 
diff --git a/docs/rust_analyzer.md b/docs/rust_analyzer.md
index bd7964d1b5..0a74a08341 100644
--- a/docs/rust_analyzer.md
+++ b/docs/rust_analyzer.md
@@ -21,9 +21,17 @@ load("@rules_rust//tools/rust_analyzer:deps.bzl", "rust_analyzer_deps")
 rust_analyzer_deps()
 ```
 
-You'll also need to ensure any `rust_repository` or `rust_repositories` calls in your `WORKSPACE` file set the arg `include_rustc_src` to `True`.
+Next, add the following lines to the `.bazelrc` file of your workspace:
+```
+build --repo_env=RULES_RUST_TOOLCHAIN_INCLUDE_RUSTC_SRCS=true
+```
+
+This will ensure rust source code is available to `rust-analyzer`. Users
+can also set `include_rustc_srcs = True` on any `rust_repository` or
+`rust_repositories` calls in the workspace but the environment variable
+has higher priority and can override the attribute.
 
-Then, add a rule to the root `BUILD` file like the following.
+Finally, add a rule to the root `BUILD` file like the following.
 
 ```python
 load("@rules_rust//rust:defs.bzl", "rust_analyzer")
diff --git a/docs/rust_analyzer.vm b/docs/rust_analyzer.vm
index e8c1d13118..a3cf522555 100644
--- a/docs/rust_analyzer.vm
+++ b/docs/rust_analyzer.vm
@@ -16,9 +16,17 @@ load("@rules_rust//tools/rust_analyzer:deps.bzl", "rust_analyzer_deps")
 rust_analyzer_deps()
 ```
 
-You'll also need to ensure any `rust_repository` or `rust_repositories` calls in your `WORKSPACE` file set the arg `include_rustc_src` to `True`.
+Next, add the following lines to the `.bazelrc` file of your workspace:
+```
+build --repo_env=RULES_RUST_TOOLCHAIN_INCLUDE_RUSTC_SRCS=true
+```
+
+This will ensure rust source code is available to `rust-analyzer`. Users
+can also set `include_rustc_srcs = True` on any `rust_repository` or
+`rust_repositories` calls in the workspace but the environment variable
+has higher priority and can override the attribute.
 
-Then, add a rule to the root `BUILD` file like the following.
+Finally, add a rule to the root `BUILD` file like the following.
 
 ```python
 load("@rules_rust//rust:defs.bzl", "rust_analyzer")
diff --git a/docs/rust_repositories.md b/docs/rust_repositories.md
index 8a9f55cca5..f4ad7cab69 100644
--- a/docs/rust_repositories.md
+++ b/docs/rust_repositories.md
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ A given instance of this rule should be accompanied by a rust_toolchain_reposito
 | <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-edition"></a>edition |  The rust edition to be used by default.   | String | optional | "2015" |
 | <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-exec_triple"></a>exec_triple |  The Rust-style target that this compiler runs on   | String | required |  |
 | <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-extra_target_triples"></a>extra_target_triples |  Additional rust-style targets that this set of toolchains should support.   | List of strings | optional | [] |
-| <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-include_rustc_srcs"></a>include_rustc_srcs |  Whether to download and unpack the rustc source files. These are very large, and slow to unpack, but are required to support rust analyzer.   | Boolean | optional | False |
+| <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-include_rustc_srcs"></a>include_rustc_srcs |  Whether to download and unpack the rustc source files. These are very large, and slow to unpack, but are required to support rust analyzer. An environment variable <code>RULES_RUST_TOOLCHAIN_INCLUDE_RUSTC_SRCS</code> can also be used to control this attribute. This variable will take precedence over the hard coded attribute. Setting it to <code>true</code> to activates this attribute where all other values deactivate it.   | Boolean | optional | False |
 | <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-iso_date"></a>iso_date |  The date of the tool (or None, if the version is a specific version).   | String | optional | "" |
 | <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-repo_mapping"></a>repo_mapping |  A dictionary from local repository name to global repository name. This allows controls over workspace dependency resolution for dependencies of this repository.&lt;p&gt;For example, an entry <code>"@foo": "@bar"</code> declares that, for any time this repository depends on <code>@foo</code> (such as a dependency on <code>@foo//some:target</code>, it should actually resolve that dependency within globally-declared <code>@bar</code> (<code>@bar//some:target</code>).   | <a href="https://bazel.build/docs/skylark/lib/dict.html">Dictionary: String -> String</a> | required |  |
 | <a id="rust_toolchain_repository-rustfmt_version"></a>rustfmt_version |  The version of the tool among "nightly", "beta", or an exact version.   | String | optional | "" |
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ See `load_arbitrary_tool` in `@rules_rust//rust:repositories.bzl` for more detai
 | <a id="rust_repositories-edition"></a>edition |  The rust edition to be used by default (2015 (default) or 2018)   |  <code>None</code> |
 | <a id="rust_repositories-dev_components"></a>dev_components |  Whether to download the rustc-dev components (defaults to False). Requires version to be "nightly".   |  <code>False</code> |
 | <a id="rust_repositories-sha256s"></a>sha256s |  A dict associating tool subdirectories to sha256 hashes. Defaults to None.   |  <code>None</code> |
-| <a id="rust_repositories-include_rustc_srcs"></a>include_rustc_srcs |  Whether to download rustc's src code. This is required in order to use rust-analyzer support. Defaults to False.   |  <code>False</code> |
+| <a id="rust_repositories-include_rustc_srcs"></a>include_rustc_srcs |  Whether to download rustc's src code. This is required in order to use rust-analyzer support. See [rust_toolchain_repository.include_rustc_srcs](#rust_toolchain_repository-include_rustc_srcs). for more details   |  <code>False</code> |
 | <a id="rust_repositories-urls"></a>urls |  A list of mirror urls containing the tools from the Rust-lang static file server. These must contain the '{}' used to substitute the tool being fetched (using .format). Defaults to ['https://static.rust-lang.org/dist/{}.tar.gz']   |  <code>["https://static.rust-lang.org/dist/{}.tar.gz"]</code> |
 
 
diff --git a/rust/repositories.bzl b/rust/repositories.bzl
index a0b644ed5f..d687b7c3d3 100644
--- a/rust/repositories.bzl
+++ b/rust/repositories.bzl
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ def rust_repositories(
         edition (str, optional): The rust edition to be used by default (2015 (default) or 2018)
         dev_components (bool, optional): Whether to download the rustc-dev components (defaults to False). Requires version to be "nightly".
         sha256s (str, optional): A dict associating tool subdirectories to sha256 hashes. Defaults to None.
-        include_rustc_srcs (bool, optional): Whether to download rustc's src code. This is required in order to use rust-analyzer support. Defaults to False.
+        include_rustc_srcs (bool, optional): Whether to download rustc's src code. This is required in order to use rust-analyzer support.
+            See [rust_toolchain_repository.include_rustc_srcs](#rust_toolchain_repository-include_rustc_srcs). for more details
         urls (list, optional): A list of mirror urls containing the tools from the Rust-lang static file server. These must contain the '{}' used to substitute the tool being fetched (using .format). Defaults to ['https://static.rust-lang.org/dist/{}.tar.gz']
     """
 
@@ -586,7 +587,15 @@ def _rust_toolchain_repository_impl(ctx):
 
     _check_version_valid(ctx.attr.version, ctx.attr.iso_date)
 
-    if ctx.attr.include_rustc_srcs:
+    # Determing whether or not to include rustc sources in the toolchain. The environment
+    # variable will always take precedence over the attribute.
+    include_rustc_srcs_env = ctx.os.environ.get("RULES_RUST_TOOLCHAIN_INCLUDE_RUSTC_SRCS")
+    if include_rustc_srcs_env != None:
+        include_rustc_srcs = include_rustc_srcs_env.lower() in ["true", "1"]
+    else:
+        include_rustc_srcs = ctx.attr.include_rustc_srcs
+
+    if include_rustc_srcs:
         _load_rust_src(ctx)
 
     build_components = [_load_rust_compiler(ctx)]
@@ -650,7 +659,13 @@ rust_toolchain_repository = repository_rule(
             doc = "Additional rust-style targets that this set of toolchains should support.",
         ),
         "include_rustc_srcs": attr.bool(
-            doc = "Whether to download and unpack the rustc source files. These are very large, and slow to unpack, but are required to support rust analyzer.",
+            doc = (
+                "Whether to download and unpack the rustc source files. These are very large, and " +
+                "slow to unpack, but are required to support rust analyzer. An environment variable " +
+                "`RULES_RUST_TOOLCHAIN_INCLUDE_RUSTC_SRCS` can also be used to control this attribute. " +
+                "This variable will take precedence over the hard coded attribute. Setting it to `true` to " +
+                "activates this attribute where all other values deactivate it."
+            ),
             default = False,
         ),
         "iso_date": attr.string(
@@ -675,6 +690,7 @@ rust_toolchain_repository = repository_rule(
         ),
     },
     implementation = _rust_toolchain_repository_impl,
+    environ = ["RULES_RUST_TOOLCHAIN_INCLUDE_RUSTC_SRCS"],
 )
 
 rust_toolchain_repository_proxy = repository_rule(