diff --git a/osdep/OSUtils.cpp b/osdep/OSUtils.cpp
index 8b7fd948f..e6c2f940a 100644
--- a/osdep/OSUtils.cpp
+++ b/osdep/OSUtils.cpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
 
 #include "../node/Constants.hpp"
 #include "../node/Utils.hpp"
@@ -398,6 +399,21 @@ std::string OSUtils::platformDefaultHomePath()
     return homeDir;
 #endif
 
+    // Check for user-defined environment variable before using defaults
+#ifdef __WINDOWS__
+	DWORD bufferSize = 65535;
+	std::string userDefinedPath;
+	bufferSize = GetEnvironmentVariable("ZEROTIER_HOME", &userDefinedPath[0], bufferSize);
+	if (bufferSize) {
+		return userDefinedPath;
+	}
+#else
+	if(const char* userDefinedPath = getenv("ZEROTIER_HOME")) {
+		return std::string(userDefinedPath);
+	}
+#endif
+
+	// Finally, resort to using default paths if no user-defined path was provided
 #ifdef __UNIX_LIKE__
 
 #ifdef __APPLE__