diff --git a/crates/std_detect/Cargo.toml b/crates/std_detect/Cargo.toml
index acfcc116f4..857d8a5b9b 100644
--- a/crates/std_detect/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/std_detect/Cargo.toml
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ auxv = "0.3.3"
 cupid = "0.6.0"
 
 [features]
-default = [ "std_detect_dlsym_getauxval", "std_detect_file_io" ]
+default = [ "std_detect_dlsym_getauxval", "std_detect_file_io", "std_detect_env_override" ]
 std_detect_file_io = []
-std_detect_dlsym_getauxval = [ "libc" ]
\ No newline at end of file
+std_detect_dlsym_getauxval = [ "libc" ]
+std_detect_env_override = []
diff --git a/crates/std_detect/src/detect/cache.rs b/crates/std_detect/src/detect/cache.rs
index 0056cd3026..b4d942b2b3 100644
--- a/crates/std_detect/src/detect/cache.rs
+++ b/crates/std_detect/src/detect/cache.rs
@@ -162,6 +162,26 @@ impl Cache {
         self.1.store(hi, Ordering::Relaxed);
     }
 }
+cfg_if! {
+    if #[cfg(feature = "std_detect_env_override")] {
+        fn env_override(mut value: Initializer) -> Initializer {
+            if let Ok(disable) = crate::env::var("RUST_STD_DETECT_UNSTABLE") {
+                for v in disable.split(" ") {
+                    let _ = super::Feature::from_str(v).map(|v| value.unset(v as u32));
+                }
+                value
+            } else {
+                value
+            }
+        }
+    } else {
+        #[inline]
+        fn env_override(value: Initializer) -> Initializer {
+            value
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 
 /// Tests the `bit` of the storage. If the storage has not been initialized,
 /// initializes it with the result of `f()`.
@@ -171,13 +191,17 @@ impl Cache {
 ///
 /// It uses the `Feature` variant to index into this variable as a bitset. If
 /// the bit is set, the feature is enabled, and otherwise it is disabled.
+///
+/// If the feature `std_detect_env_override` is enabled looks for the env
+/// variable `RUST_STD_DETECT_UNSTABLE` and uses its its content to disable
+/// Features that would had been otherwise detected.
 #[inline]
 pub(crate) fn test<F>(bit: u32, f: F) -> bool
 where
     F: FnOnce() -> Initializer,
 {
     if CACHE.is_uninitialized() {
-        CACHE.initialize(f());
+        CACHE.initialize(env_override(f()));
     }
     CACHE.test(bit)
 }
diff --git a/crates/std_detect/src/detect/macros.rs b/crates/std_detect/src/detect/macros.rs
index 750cf50aa7..c9200d2f1f 100644
--- a/crates/std_detect/src/detect/macros.rs
+++ b/crates/std_detect/src/detect/macros.rs
@@ -69,6 +69,12 @@ macro_rules! features {
                     Feature::_last => unreachable!(),
                 }
             }
+            pub fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Feature, ()> {
+                match s {
+                    $($feature_lit => Ok(Feature::$feature),)*
+                    _ => Err(())
+                }
+            }
         }
 
         /// Each function performs run-time feature detection for a single
diff --git a/crates/std_detect/src/lib.rs b/crates/std_detect/src/lib.rs
index 7737719c3b..9f4b9918e7 100644
--- a/crates/std_detect/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/std_detect/src/lib.rs
@@ -24,12 +24,23 @@
 extern crate cfg_if;
 
 cfg_if! {
-    if #[cfg(feature = "std_detect_file_io")] {
+    if #[cfg(all(feature = "std_detect_file_io", feature = "std_detect_env_override"))] {
+        #[cfg_attr(test, macro_use(println))]
+        extern crate std;
+
+        #[allow(unused_imports)]
+        use std::{arch, env, fs, io, mem, sync};
+    } else if #[cfg(feature = "std_detect_file_io")] {
         #[cfg_attr(test, macro_use(println))]
         extern crate std;
 
         #[allow(unused_imports)]
         use std::{arch, fs, io, mem, sync};
+    } else if #[cfg(feature = "std_detect_env_override")] {
+        #[cfg_attr(test, macro_use(println))]
+        extern crate std;
+
+        use std::env;
     } else {
         #[cfg(test)]
         #[macro_use(println)]