diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 71cda33..745c20e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 
 This release ends support for ruby < 2.3.0. If you're on 2.2.x or earlier, we strongly suggest that you find the time to upgrade, because [official support for Ruby 2.2 ended on 2018-03-31](https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2018/06/20/support-of-ruby-2-2-has-ended/).
 
+#### Enhancements
+
+* `MiniPortile.execute` now takes an optional `:env` hash, which is merged into the environment variables for the subprocess. Likely this is only useful for specialized use cases. [#99]
+
 
 ### 2.5.0 / 2020-02-24
 
diff --git a/lib/mini_portile2/mini_portile.rb b/lib/mini_portile2/mini_portile.rb
index 109de5b..e99935b 100644
--- a/lib/mini_portile2/mini_portile.rb
+++ b/lib/mini_portile2/mini_portile.rb
@@ -380,29 +380,41 @@ def extract_file(file, target)
     execute('extract', [tar_exe, "#{tar_compression_switch(filename)}xf", file, "-C", target], {:cd => Dir.pwd, :initial_message => false})
   end
 
-  def execute(action, command, options={})
-    log_out    = log_file(action)
+  # command could be an array of args, or one string containing a command passed to the shell. See
+  # Process.spawn for more information.
+  def execute(action, command, command_opts={})
+    opt_message = command_opts.fetch(:initial_message, true)
+    opt_debug =   command_opts.fetch(:debug, false)
+    opt_cd =      command_opts.fetch(:cd) { work_path }
+    opt_env =     command_opts.fetch(:env) { Hash.new }
 
-    Dir.chdir (options.fetch(:cd){ work_path }) do
-      if options.fetch(:initial_message){ true }
-        message "Running '#{action}' for #{@name} #{@version}... "
-      end
+    log_out = log_file(action)
+
+    Dir.chdir(opt_cd) do
+      output "DEBUG: env is #{opt_env.inspect}" if opt_debug
+      output "DEBUG: command is #{command.inspect}" if opt_debug
+      message "Running '#{action}' for #{@name} #{@version}... " if opt_message
 
       if Process.respond_to?(:spawn) && ! RbConfig.respond_to?(:java)
-        args = [command].flatten + [{[:out, :err]=>[log_out, "a"]}]
+        options = {[:out, :err]=>[log_out, "a"]}
+        output "DEBUG: options are #{options.inspect}" if opt_debug
+        args = [opt_env, command, options].flatten
         pid = spawn(*args)
         Process.wait(pid)
       else
-        redirected = if command.kind_of?(Array)
-                       %Q{#{command.map(&:shellescape).join(" ")} > #{log_out.shellescape} 2>&1}
-                     else
-                       %Q{#{command} > #{log_out.shellescape} 2>&1}
-                     end
+        env_args = opt_env.map { |k,v| "#{k}=#{v}".shellescape }.join(" ")
+        c = if command.kind_of?(Array)
+              command.map(&:shellescape).join(" ")
+            else
+              command
+            end
+        redirected = %Q{env #{env_args} #{c} > #{log_out.shellescape} 2>&1}
+        output "DEBUG: final command is #{redirected.inspect}" if opt_debug
         system redirected
       end
 
       if $?.success?
-        output "OK"
+        output "OK" if opt_message
         return true
       else
         if File.exist? log_out
diff --git a/test/test_execute.rb b/test/test_execute.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1564d53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_execute.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+require_relative "helper"
+
+class TestExecute < TestCase
+  def setup
+    super
+    @env = {"TEST_ENV_VAR1" => "VAR1_VALUE", "TEST_ENV_VAR2" => "VAR2_VALUE"}
+    @recipe = MiniPortile.new("test_execute", "1.0.0")
+    @log_path = @recipe.send(:tmp_path)
+    FileUtils.mkdir_p File.join(@log_path, "subdir") # normally created by `download`
+  end
+
+  def test_execute_one_big_string_arg
+    class << @recipe
+      def execute_with_env(env)
+        execute("testenv1",
+                %Q(ruby -e "puts ENV['TEST_ENV_VAR1'].inspect ; exit 0"),
+                {:env => env, :initial_message => false, :debug => true})
+      end
+    end
+
+    @recipe.execute_with_env(@env)
+
+    assert_equal("VAR1_VALUE".inspect, IO.read(File.join(@log_path, "testenv1.log")).chomp)
+  end
+
+  def test_execute_array_args
+    class << @recipe
+      def execute_with_env(env)
+        execute("testenv2",
+                ["ruby", "-e", "puts ENV['TEST_ENV_VAR2'].inspect"],
+                {:env => env, :initial_message => false, :debug => true})
+      end
+    end
+
+    @recipe.execute_with_env(@env)
+
+    assert_equal("VAR2_VALUE".inspect, IO.read(File.join(@log_path, "testenv2.log")).chomp)
+  end
+end