diff --git a/osenv.js b/osenv.js
index 7836faf..f2a4844 100644
--- a/osenv.js
+++ b/osenv.js
@@ -3,6 +3,11 @@ var path = require('path')
 var exec = require('child_process').exec
 var os = require('os')
 
+var customEditor = ''
+exports.setCustomEditorVariable = function(val) {
+  customEditor = val
+}
+
 // looking up envs is a bit costly.
 // Also, sometimes we want to have a fallback
 // Pass in a callback to wait for the fallback on failures
@@ -62,7 +67,8 @@ memo('path', function () {
 })
 
 memo('editor', function () {
-  return process.env.EDITOR ||
+  return process.env[customEditor] ||
+         process.env.EDITOR ||
          process.env.VISUAL ||
          (isWindows ? 'notepad.exe' : 'vi')
 })
diff --git a/test/unix.js b/test/unix.js
index f87cbfb..2a2f781 100644
--- a/test/unix.js
+++ b/test/unix.js
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ process.env.TMP = '/tmp'
 process.env.TEMP = '/temp'
 process.env.PATH = '/opt/local/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin/:bin'
 process.env.PS1 = '(o_o) $ '
+process.env.CUSTOM_EDITOR = 'custom_edit'
 process.env.EDITOR = 'edit'
 process.env.VISUAL = 'visualedit'
 process.env.SHELL = 'zsh'
@@ -51,6 +52,18 @@ tap.test('basic unix sanity test', function (t) {
   t.equal(osenv.tmpdir(), '/tmp')
 
   t.equal(osenv.editor(), 'edit')
+
+  delete require.cache[require.resolve('../osenv.js')]
+  var osenv = require('../osenv.js')
+  osenv.setCustomEditorVariable('CUSTOM_EDITOR')
+  t.equal(osenv.editor(), 'custom_edit')
+
+  process.env.CUSTOM_EDITOR = ''
+  delete require.cache[require.resolve('../osenv.js')]
+  var osenv = require('../osenv.js')
+  osenv.setCustomEditorVariable('CUSTOM_EDITOR')
+  t.equal(osenv.editor(), 'edit')
+
   process.env.EDITOR = ''
   delete require.cache[require.resolve('../osenv.js')]
   var osenv = require('../osenv.js')
diff --git a/test/windows.js b/test/windows.js
index 63ca453..9738970 100644
--- a/test/windows.js
+++ b/test/windows.js
@@ -55,6 +55,18 @@ tap.test('basic windows sanity test', function (t) {
   t.equal(osenv.tmpdir(), 'c:\\windows\\temp')
 
   t.equal(osenv.editor(), 'edit')
+
+  delete require.cache[require.resolve('../osenv.js')]
+  var osenv = require('../osenv.js')
+  osenv.setCustomEditorVariable('CUSTOM_EDITOR')
+  t.equal(osenv.editor(), 'custom_edit')
+
+  process.env.CUSTOM_EDITOR = ''
+  delete require.cache[require.resolve('../osenv.js')]
+  var osenv = require('../osenv.js')
+  osenv.setCustomEditorVariable('CUSTOM_EDITOR')
+  t.equal(osenv.editor(), 'edit')
+
   process.env.EDITOR = ''
   delete require.cache[require.resolve('../osenv.js')]
   var osenv = require('../osenv.js')