diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 06f2b7c..d95d022 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -97,6 +97,23 @@ So if you are installing `leveldown@1.2.3` the resulting url will be:
 http://overriden-host.com/overriden-path/v1.2.3/leveldown-v1.2.3-node-v57-win32-x64.tar.gz
 ```
 
+
+#### Local prebuilds
+
+If you want to use prebuilds from your local filesystem, you can use the `% your package name %_local_prebuilds` .npmrc variable to set a path to the folder containing prebuilds. For example:
+
+```
+leveldown_local_prebuilds=/path/to/prebuilds
+```
+
+This option will look directly in that folder for bundles created with `prebuild`, for example:
+
+```
+/path/to/prebuilds/leveldown-v1.2.3-node-v57-win32-x64.tar.gz
+```
+
+Non-absolute paths resolve relative to the directory of the package invoking prebuild-install, e.g. for nested dependencies.
+
 ### Cache
 
 All prebuilt binaries are cached to minimize traffic. So first `prebuild-install` picks binaries from the cache and if no binary could be found, it will be downloaded. Depending on the environment, the cache folder is determined in the following order:
diff --git a/download.js b/download.js
index 13cb9f4..6565767 100644
--- a/download.js
+++ b/download.js
@@ -15,58 +15,74 @@ var mkdirp = require('mkdirp-classic')
 
 function downloadPrebuild (downloadUrl, opts, cb) {
   var cachedPrebuild = util.cachedPrebuild(downloadUrl)
+  var localPrebuild = util.localPrebuild(downloadUrl, opts)
   var tempFile = util.tempFile(cachedPrebuild)
   var log = opts.log || noop
 
-  ensureNpmCacheDir(function (err) {
-    if (err) return onerror(err)
+  if (opts.nolocal) return download()
 
-    log.info('looking for cached prebuild @', cachedPrebuild)
-    fs.access(cachedPrebuild, fs.R_OK | fs.W_OK, function (err) {
-      if (!(err && err.code === 'ENOENT')) {
-        log.info('found cached prebuild')
-        return unpack()
-      }
+  log.info('looking for local prebuild @', localPrebuild)
+  fs.access(localPrebuild, fs.R_OK | fs.W_OK, function (err) {
+    if (err && err.code === 'ENOENT') {
+      return download()
+    }
 
-      log.http('request', 'GET ' + downloadUrl)
-      var reqOpts = proxy({ url: downloadUrl }, opts)
+    log.info('found local prebuild')
+    cachedPrebuild = localPrebuild
+    unpack()
+  })
 
-      if (opts.token) {
-        reqOpts.url += '?access_token=' + opts.token
-        reqOpts.headers = {
-          'User-Agent': 'simple-get',
-          Accept: 'application/octet-stream'
+  function download () {
+    ensureNpmCacheDir(function (err) {
+      if (err) return onerror(err)
+
+      log.info('looking for cached prebuild @', cachedPrebuild)
+      fs.access(cachedPrebuild, fs.R_OK | fs.W_OK, function (err) {
+        if (!(err && err.code === 'ENOENT')) {
+          log.info('found cached prebuild')
+          return unpack()
         }
-      }
 
-      var req = get(reqOpts, function (err, res) {
-        if (err) return onerror(err)
-        log.http(res.statusCode, downloadUrl)
-        if (res.statusCode !== 200) return onerror()
-        mkdirp(util.prebuildCache(), function () {
-          log.info('downloading to @', tempFile)
-          pump(res, fs.createWriteStream(tempFile), function (err) {
-            if (err) return onerror(err)
-            fs.rename(tempFile, cachedPrebuild, function (err) {
-              if (err) return cb(err)
-              log.info('renaming to @', cachedPrebuild)
-              unpack()
+        log.http('request', 'GET ' + downloadUrl)
+        var reqOpts = proxy({ url: downloadUrl }, opts)
+
+        if (opts.token) {
+          reqOpts.url += '?access_token=' + opts.token
+          reqOpts.headers = {
+            'User-Agent': 'simple-get',
+            Accept: 'application/octet-stream'
+          }
+        }
+
+        var req = get(reqOpts, function (err, res) {
+          if (err) return onerror(err)
+          log.http(res.statusCode, downloadUrl)
+          if (res.statusCode !== 200) return onerror()
+          mkdirp(util.prebuildCache(), function () {
+            log.info('downloading to @', tempFile)
+            pump(res, fs.createWriteStream(tempFile), function (err) {
+              if (err) return onerror(err)
+              fs.rename(tempFile, cachedPrebuild, function (err) {
+                if (err) return cb(err)
+                log.info('renaming to @', cachedPrebuild)
+                unpack()
+              })
             })
           })
         })
-      })
 
-      req.setTimeout(30 * 1000, function () {
-        req.abort()
+        req.setTimeout(30 * 1000, function () {
+          req.abort()
+        })
       })
-    })
 
-    function onerror (err) {
-      fs.unlink(tempFile, function () {
-        cb(err || error.noPrebuilts(opts))
-      })
-    }
-  })
+      function onerror (err) {
+        fs.unlink(tempFile, function () {
+          cb(err || error.noPrebuilts(opts))
+        })
+      }
+    })
+  }
 
   function unpack () {
     var binaryName
diff --git a/rc.js b/rc.js
index 41c4a94..3316cab 100644
--- a/rc.js
+++ b/rc.js
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ module.exports = function (pkg) {
     proxy: env.npm_config_proxy || env['http_proxy'] || env['HTTP_PROXY'],
     'https-proxy': env.npm_config_https_proxy || env['https_proxy'] || env['HTTPS_PROXY'],
     'local-address': env.npm_config_local_address,
+    'local-prebuilds': 'prebuilds',
     'tag-prefix': 'v',
     download: env.npm_config_download
   }, minimist(process.argv, {
diff --git a/test/download-test.js b/test/download-test.js
index 3ee4fac..f8c5b39 100644
--- a/test/download-test.js
+++ b/test/download-test.js
@@ -89,6 +89,43 @@ test('cached prebuild', function (t) {
   })
 })
 
+test('local prebuild', function (t) {
+  t.plan(6)
+  rm.sync(build)
+
+  var opts = getOpts()
+  var downloadUrl = util.getDownloadUrl(opts)
+  var cachedPrebuild = util.cachedPrebuild(downloadUrl)
+  var localPrebuild = util.localPrebuild(downloadUrl, opts)
+
+  t.ok(fs.existsSync(cachedPrebuild), 'cached prebuild exists')
+
+  // fs.copyFileSync() not available before Node 8.5
+  fs.writeFileSync(localPrebuild, fs.readFileSync(cachedPrebuild))
+
+  var _createWriteStream = fs.createWriteStream
+  fs.createWriteStream = function (path) {
+    t.ok(/\.node$/i.test(path), 'this is the unpacked file')
+    return _createWriteStream(path)
+  }
+
+  var _createReadStream = fs.createReadStream
+  fs.createReadStream = function (path) {
+    t.equal(path, localPrebuild, 'createReadStream called for localPrebuild')
+    return _createReadStream(path)
+  }
+
+  t.equal(fs.existsSync(build), false, 'no build folder')
+
+  download(downloadUrl, opts, function (err) {
+    t.error(err, 'no error')
+    t.equal(fs.existsSync(unpacked), true, unpacked + ' should exist')
+    fs.createReadStream = _createReadStream
+    fs.createWriteStream = _createWriteStream
+    rm.sync(localPrebuild)
+  })
+})
+
 test('non existing host should fail with no dangling temp file', function (t) {
   t.plan(3)
 
@@ -225,6 +262,7 @@ function getOpts () {
     platform: process.platform,
     arch: process.arch,
     path: __dirname,
-    'tag-prefix': 'v'
+    'tag-prefix': 'v',
+    'local-prebuilds': __dirname
   }
 }
diff --git a/test/util-test.js b/test/util-test.js
index 71252bd..13c6d50 100644
--- a/test/util-test.js
+++ b/test/util-test.js
@@ -190,3 +190,29 @@ test('getDownloadUrl() expands template to correct values', function (t) {
   t.equal(url3, url2, 'scope does not matter for download url')
   t.end()
 })
+
+test('localPrebuild', function (t) {
+  var envProp = 'npm_config_a_native_module_local_prebuilds'
+  var basename = 'a-native-module-v1.4.0-node-v14-linux-x64.tar.gz'
+  var url = 'https://github.com/a-native-module/a-native-module/releases/download/v1.4.0/' + basename
+  var o1 = {
+    pkg: {
+      name: 'a-native-module'
+    }
+  }
+  var path1 = util.localPrebuild(url, o1)
+  t.equal(path1, path.join('prebuilds', basename))
+  var o2 = {
+    pkg: {
+      name: 'a-native-module'
+    },
+    'local-prebuilds': path.join('', 'path', 'to', 'prebuilds')
+  }
+  var path2 = util.localPrebuild(url, o2)
+  t.equal(path2, path.join(o2['local-prebuilds'], basename), 'opts overrides default')
+  var envPrefix = path.join('', 'overriden', 'path', 'to', 'prebuilds')
+  process.env[envProp] = envPrefix
+  var path3 = util.localPrebuild(url, o2)
+  t.equal(path3, path.join(envPrefix, basename), 'env overrides opts')
+  t.end()
+})
diff --git a/util.js b/util.js
index db358c9..eb392f6 100644
--- a/util.js
+++ b/util.js
@@ -60,8 +60,12 @@ function urlTemplate (opts) {
   return github(opts.pkg) + '/releases/download/{tag_prefix}{version}/' + packageName
 }
 
+function getEnvPrefix (pkgName) {
+  return 'npm_config_' + (pkgName || '').replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/g, '_')
+}
+
 function getHostMirrorUrl (opts) {
-  var propName = 'npm_config_' + (opts.pkg.name || '').replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/g, '_') + '_binary_host'
+  var propName = getEnvPrefix(opts.pkg.name) + '_binary_host'
   return process.env[propName] || process.env[propName + '_mirror']
 }
 
@@ -105,11 +109,18 @@ function packageOrigin (env, pkg) {
   }
 }
 
+function localPrebuild (url, opts) {
+  var propName = getEnvPrefix(opts.pkg.name) + '_local_prebuilds'
+  var prefix = process.env[propName] || opts['local-prebuilds'] || 'prebuilds'
+  return path.join(prefix, path.basename(url))
+}
+
 exports.getDownloadUrl = getDownloadUrl
 exports.getApiUrl = getApiUrl
 exports.getAssetUrl = getAssetUrl
 exports.urlTemplate = urlTemplate
 exports.cachedPrebuild = cachedPrebuild
+exports.localPrebuild = localPrebuild
 exports.prebuildCache = prebuildCache
 exports.npmCache = npmCache
 exports.tempFile = tempFile