diff --git a/Changelog.md b/Changelog.md
index c13f392e9..651890835 100644
--- a/Changelog.md
+++ b/Changelog.md
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 * Switch from reqwest to ureq to reduce dependencies in [#767](https://github.com/PyO3/maturin/pull/767)
 * Fix missing Python submodule in wheel in [#772](https://github.com/PyO3/maturin/pull/772)
 * Add support for specifying cargo manifest path in pyproject.toml in [#781](https://github.com/PyO3/maturin/pull/781)
+* Add support for passing arguments to pep517 command via `MATURIN_PEP517_ARGS` env var in [#786](https://github.com/PyO3/maturin/pull/786)
 
 ## [0.12.6] - 2021-12-31
 
diff --git a/maturin/__init__.py b/maturin/__init__.py
index ee796252e..24ba21964 100644
--- a/maturin/__init__.py
+++ b/maturin/__init__.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 """
 
 import os
+import shlex
 import shutil
 import subprocess
 import sys
@@ -25,6 +26,11 @@ def get_config() -> Dict[str, str]:
     return pyproject_toml.get("tool", {}).get("maturin", {})
 
 
+def get_maturin_pep517_args():
+    args = shlex.split(os.getenv("MATURIN_PEP517_ARGS", ""))
+    return args
+
+
 # noinspection PyUnusedLocal
 def _build_wheel(
     wheel_directory, config_settings=None, metadata_directory=None, editable=False
@@ -34,6 +40,9 @@ def _build_wheel(
     command = ["maturin", "pep517", "build-wheel", "-i", sys.executable]
     if editable:
         command.append("--editable")
+    pep517_args = get_maturin_pep517_args()
+    if pep517_args:
+        command.extend(pep517_args)
 
     print("Running `{}`".format(" ".join(command)))
     sys.stdout.flush()
@@ -131,6 +140,9 @@ def prepare_metadata_for_build_wheel(metadata_directory, config_settings=None):
         "--interpreter",
         sys.executable,
     ]
+    pep517_args = get_maturin_pep517_args()
+    if pep517_args:
+        command.extend(pep517_args)
 
     print("Running `{}`".format(" ".join(command)))
     try: