diff --git a/nipype/utils/config.py b/nipype/utils/config.py
index 4537fdadc8..5ba52bfb04 100644
--- a/nipype/utils/config.py
+++ b/nipype/utils/config.py
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self._config = configparser.ConfigParser()
         self._cwd = None
 
-        config_dir = os.path.expanduser("~/.nipype")
+        config_dir = os.path.expanduser(os.getenv("NIPYPE_CONFIG_DIR", default="~/.nipype"))
         self.data_file = os.path.join(config_dir, "nipype.json")
 
         self.set_default_config()