diff --git a/eng/common/dotnet-install.ps1 b/eng/common/dotnet-install.ps1
index 811f0f717f7..50ae6273768 100644
--- a/eng/common/dotnet-install.ps1
+++ b/eng/common/dotnet-install.ps1
@@ -10,7 +10,11 @@ Param(
 
 . $PSScriptRoot\tools.ps1
 
-$dotnetRoot = Join-Path $RepoRoot '.dotnet'
+if (-not [string]::IsNullOrEmpty($env:DOTNET_GLOBAL_INSTALL_DIR)) {
+  $dotnetRoot = $env:DOTNET_GLOBAL_INSTALL_DIR
+} else {
+  $dotnetRoot = Join-Path $RepoRoot '.dotnet'
+}
 
 $installdir = $dotnetRoot
 try {
diff --git a/eng/common/dotnet-install.sh b/eng/common/dotnet-install.sh
index 61f302bb677..1cb3f5abac2 100755
--- a/eng/common/dotnet-install.sh
+++ b/eng/common/dotnet-install.sh
@@ -80,7 +80,11 @@ case $cpuname in
     ;;
 esac
 
-dotnetRoot="${repo_root}.dotnet"
+if [[ -n "${DOTNET_GLOBAL_INSTALL_DIR:-}" ]]; then
+  dotnetRoot="$DOTNET_GLOBAL_INSTALL_DIR"
+else
+  dotnetRoot="${repo_root}.dotnet"
+fi
 if [[ $architecture != "" ]] && [[ $architecture != $buildarch ]]; then
   dotnetRoot="$dotnetRoot/$architecture"
 fi
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Arcade.Sdk/toolset/InstallDotNetCore.targets b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Arcade.Sdk/toolset/InstallDotNetCore.targets
index 27bccaf4b26..545b120fef5 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Arcade.Sdk/toolset/InstallDotNetCore.targets
+++ b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Arcade.Sdk/toolset/InstallDotNetCore.targets
@@ -9,10 +9,15 @@
     
     <Exec Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Command="chmod +x &quot;$(_DotNetInstallScript)&quot;" />
 
+    <PropertyGroup>
+      <_DotNetPath Condition="'$(DOTNET_GLOBAL_INSTALL_DIR)' != ''">$(DOTNET_GLOBAL_INSTALL_DIR)</_DotNetPath>
+      <_DotNetPath Condition="'$(_DotNetPath)' == ''">$(RepoRoot).dotnet</_DotNetPath>
+    </PropertyGroup>
+
     <InstallDotNetCore
       VersionsPropsPath="$(RepositoryEngineeringDir)Versions.props"
       GlobalJsonPath="$(RepoRoot)global.json"
-      DotNetPath ="$(RepoRoot).dotnet"
+      DotNetPath="$(_DotNetPath)"
       DotNetInstallScript="$(_DotNetInstallScript)"
       Platform="$(Platform)"
       RuntimeSourceFeed="$(DotNetRuntimeSourceFeed)"