diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 898eee3..e7e2589 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -63,7 +63,11 @@ class cffiBuilder(build_ext, object):
     def build_extension(self, ext):
         """ Compile manually the wolfssl-py extension, bypass setuptools
         """
-        build_wolfssl(wolfssl.__wolfssl_version__)
+
+        # if USE_LOCAL_WOLFSSL environment variable has been defined,
+        # do not clone and compile wolfSSL from GitHub
+        if os.environ.get("USE_LOCAL_WOLFSSL") is None:
+            build_wolfssl(wolfssl.__wolfssl_version__)
 
         super(cffiBuilder, self).build_extension(ext)
 
diff --git a/src/wolfssl/__init__.py b/src/wolfssl/__init__.py
index f5e03c6..a05a00f 100644
--- a/src/wolfssl/__init__.py
+++ b/src/wolfssl/__init__.py
@@ -375,6 +375,7 @@ class SSLSocket(object):
             self.ciphers = ciphers
             self.server_hostname = server_hostname
 
+        # set SNI if passed in
         if server_hostname is not None:
             self._context.use_sni(server_hostname)
 
diff --git a/src/wolfssl/_build_ffi.py b/src/wolfssl/_build_ffi.py
index 22ae029..b6af755 100644
--- a/src/wolfssl/_build_ffi.py
+++ b/src/wolfssl/_build_ffi.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 from distutils.util import get_platform
 from cffi import FFI
 from wolfssl.__about__ import __wolfssl_version__ as version
-from wolfssl._build_wolfssl import local_path
+from wolfssl._build_wolfssl import wolfssl_inc_path, wolfssl_lib_path
 
 ffi = FFI()
 
@@ -35,9 +35,8 @@ ffi.set_source(
     #include <wolfssl/options.h>
     #include <wolfssl/ssl.h>
     """,
-    include_dirs=[local_path("lib/wolfssl/src")],
-    library_dirs=[local_path("lib/wolfssl/{}/{}/lib".format(
-        get_platform(), version))],
+    include_dirs=[wolfssl_inc_path()],
+    library_dirs=[wolfssl_lib_path()],
     libraries=["wolfssl"],
 )
 
diff --git a/src/wolfssl/_build_wolfssl.py b/src/wolfssl/_build_wolfssl.py
index d13a52b..a3b62cc 100644
--- a/src/wolfssl/_build_wolfssl.py
+++ b/src/wolfssl/_build_wolfssl.py
@@ -37,6 +37,29 @@ WOLFSSL_GIT_ADDR = "https://github.com/wolfssl/wolfssl.git"
 WOLFSSL_SRC_PATH = local_path("lib/wolfssl/src")
 
 
+def wolfssl_inc_path():
+    wolfssl_path = os.environ.get("USE_LOCAL_WOLFSSL")
+    if wolfssl_path is None:
+        return local_path("lib/wolfssl/src")
+    else:
+        if os.path.isdir(wolfssl_path) and os.path.exists(wolfssl_path):
+            return wolfssl_path + "/include"
+        else:
+            return "/usr/local/include"
+
+
+def wolfssl_lib_path():
+    wolfssl_path = os.environ.get("USE_LOCAL_WOLFSSL")
+    if wolfssl_path is None:
+        return local_path("lib/wolfssl/{}/{}/lib".format(
+                          get_platform(), version))
+    else:
+        if os.path.isdir(wolfssl_path) and os.path.exists(wolfssl_path):
+            return wolfssl_path + "/lib"
+        else:
+            return "/usr/local/lib"
+
+
 def call(cmd):
     print("Calling: '{}' from working directory {}".format(cmd, os.getcwd()))