diff --git a/dist/index.js b/dist/index.js
index 3d48ec6adc..98eaf1ae0b 100644
--- a/dist/index.js
+++ b/dist/index.js
@@ -9115,18 +9115,16 @@ function run() {
             //
             // dotnet-version is optional, but needs to be provided for most use cases.
             // If supplied, install / use from the tool cache.
-            // If not supplied, look for version in ./global.json.
+            // global-version-file may be specified to point to a specific global.json
+            // and will be used to install an additional version.
+            // If neither supplied, look for version in ./global.json.
             // If a valid version still can't be identified, nothing will be installed.
             // Proxy, auth, (etc) are still set up, even if no version is identified
             //
             let versions = core.getMultilineInput('dotnet-version');
-            if (!versions.length) {
-                // Try to fall back to global.json
-                core.debug('No version found, trying to find version from global.json');
-                const globalJsonPath = path.join(process.cwd(), 'global.json');
-                if (fs.existsSync(globalJsonPath)) {
-                    versions.push(getVersionFromGlobalJson(globalJsonPath));
-                }
+            const globalJsonVersion = getVersionFromGlobalJson(versions.length > 0);
+            if (globalJsonVersion) {
+                versions.push(globalJsonVersion);
             }
             if (versions.length) {
                 const includePrerelease = (core.getInput('include-prerelease') || 'false').toLowerCase() ===
@@ -9152,20 +9150,39 @@ function run() {
     });
 }
 exports.run = run;
-function getVersionFromGlobalJson(globalJsonPath) {
-    let version = '';
+function getVersionFromGlobalJson(hasVersions) {
+    const globalJsonFileInput = core.getInput('global-json-file');
+    if (!globalJsonFileInput) {
+        if (hasVersions) {
+            // Don't check for a global.json if dotnet-version was specified and
+            // global-json-file was not
+            return null;
+        }
+        // Falling back to global.json
+        core.debug('No version found, trying to find version from global.json');
+    }
+    const globalJsonPath = globalJsonFileInput
+        ? path.join(process.cwd(), globalJsonFileInput)
+        : path.join(process.cwd(), 'global.json');
+    if (!fs.existsSync(globalJsonPath)) {
+        if (globalJsonFileInput) {
+            throw new Error(`The specified global.json file at: ${globalJsonFileInput} does not exist`);
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
     const globalJson = JSON.parse(
     // .trim() is necessary to strip BOM https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/20649
     fs.readFileSync(globalJsonPath, { encoding: 'utf8' }).trim());
     if (globalJson.sdk && globalJson.sdk.version) {
-        version = globalJson.sdk.version;
+        let version = globalJson.sdk.version;
         const rollForward = globalJson.sdk.rollForward;
         if (rollForward && rollForward === 'latestFeature') {
             const [major, minor] = version.split('.');
             version = `${major}.${minor}`;
         }
+        return version;
     }
-    return version;
+    return null;
 }
 run();