diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/__init__.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/__init__.py
index 7e1b92800..b6c60ffd9 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/__init__.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/__init__.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ from . import (
     vms,
 )
 from .custom_logger import setup_logging
-from .dirs import get_clan_flake_toplevel
+from .dirs import get_clan_flake_toplevel_or_env
 from .errors import ClanCmdError, ClanError
 from .profiler import profile
 from .ssh import cli as ssh_cli
@@ -77,8 +77,8 @@ def create_parser(prog: str | None = None) -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
 
     parser.add_argument(
         "--flake",
-        help="path to the flake where the clan resides in, can be a remote flake or local",
-        default=get_clan_flake_toplevel(),
+        help="path to the flake where the clan resides in, can be a remote flake or local, can be set through the [CLAN_DIR] environment variable",
+        default=get_clan_flake_toplevel_or_env(),
         type=flake_path,
     )
 
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/dirs.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/dirs.py
index abcf83255..9b687aa43 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/dirs.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/dirs.py
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@ from pathlib import Path
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+def get_clan_flake_toplevel_or_env() -> Path | None:
+    if clan_dir := os.environ.get("CLAN_DIR"):
+        return Path(clan_dir)
+    return get_clan_flake_toplevel()
+
+
 def get_clan_flake_toplevel() -> Path | None:
     return find_toplevel([".clan-flake", ".git", ".hg", ".svn", "flake.nix"])