diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5ebf670..cf79038 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,10 +5,15 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/)
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 ## [Unreleased]
+## [v1.0.1] - 2018-03-08
+### Added
+
+- Add the `CUMULUS_MESSAGE_ADAPTER_DIR` environment variable to set the path where cumulus-message-adapter is located
 
 ## [v1.0.0] - 2018-03-07
 
 Initial release
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/cumulus-nasa/cumulus-cumulus-message-adapter-js/compare/v1.0.0...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/cumulus-nasa/cumulus-cumulus-message-adapter-js/compare/v1.0.1...HEAD
+[v1.0.1]: https://github.com/cumulus-nasa/cumulus-cumulus-message-adapter-js/compare/v1.0.0...v1.0.1
 [v1.0.0]: https://github.com/cumulus-nasa/cumulus-message-adapter-js/tree/v1.0.0
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 73dd6d9..e635a0f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -104,6 +104,15 @@ NodeTest:
   useMessageAdapter: true
 ```
 
+## Environment variables
+
+There are two environment variables that can be used with this library. Both are rarely needed for most use cases:
+
+- `CUMULUS_MESSAGE_ADAPTER_DISABLED=true`
+  - Defaults to false. This env var disables Cumulus Message Adapter. This can be used to turn off the message adapter for tasks that adapt the message on their own, or for testing.
+- `CUMULUS_MESSAGE_ADAPTER_DIR`
+  - The default directory for Cumulus Message Adapter is the root directory of the lambda function. There are rare cases (see [cumulus-ecs-task](https://github.com/cumulus-nasa/cumulus-ecs-task) for an example) where the adapter directory will be in a different location. This env var is unlikely to be useful for tasks, only for libraries that are working with Cumulus tasks at a higher level.
+
 ## Development
 
 ### Running Tests
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 0e41ca8..53d1cc5 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ class CumulusMessageAdapterExecutionError extends Error {
  */
 function callCumulusMessageAdapter(command, input) {
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-    const cumulusMessageAdapter = cp.spawn('python', ['./cumulus-message-adapter', command]);
+    const adapterDir = process.env.CUMULUS_MESSAGE_ADAPTER_DIR || './cumulus-message-adapter';
+    const cumulusMessageAdapter = cp.spawn('python', [adapterDir, command]);
 
     // Collect STDOUT
     let cumulusMessageAdapterStdout = '';
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 0f0f914..1b7a305 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@cumulus/cumulus-message-adapter-js",
-  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "version": "1.0.1",
   "description": "Cumulus message adapter",
   "main": "index.js",
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/test/.eslintrc.json b/test/.eslintrc.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d135721
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/.eslintrc.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  "rules": {
+    "require-jsdoc": "off"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/alternate-dir/cumulus-message-adapter/__main__.py b/test/alternate-dir/cumulus-message-adapter/__main__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..98f9c03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/alternate-dir/cumulus-message-adapter/__main__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import sys
+
+for line in sys.stdin:
+    sys.stdout.write(line)
diff --git a/test/test-index-with-dir-env.js b/test/test-index-with-dir-env.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a81a971
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test-index-with-dir-env.js
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+const path = require('path');
+
+const test = require('ava').serial;
+const cumulusMessageAdapter = require('../index');
+
+test.cb('CUMULUS_MESSAGE_ADAPTER_DIR sets the location of the message adapter', (t) => {
+  const dir = path.join(__dirname, 'alternate-dir', 'cumulus-message-adapter');
+  process.env.CUMULUS_MESSAGE_ADAPTER_DIR = dir;
+
+  const businessLogicOutput = 42;
+  const businessLogic = () => businessLogicOutput;
+
+  const inputEvent = { a: 1 };
+
+  const expectedOutput = {
+    event: {
+      event: inputEvent,
+      schemas: null
+    },
+    handler_response: businessLogicOutput,
+    message_config: null,
+    schemas: null
+  };
+
+  function callback(err, data) {
+    t.is(err, null);
+    t.deepEqual(data, expectedOutput);
+    t.end();
+  }
+
+  return cumulusMessageAdapter.runCumulusTask(businessLogic, inputEvent, {}, callback);
+});
+
+test.cb('callback returns error if CUMULUS_MESSAGE_ADAPTER_DIR is incorrect', (t) => {
+  const dir = path.join(__dirname, 'wrong-dir', 'cumulus-message-adapter');
+  process.env.CUMULUS_MESSAGE_ADAPTER_DIR = dir;
+
+  const businessLogicOutput = 42;
+  const businessLogic = () => businessLogicOutput;
+
+  const inputEvent = { a: 1 };
+
+  function callback(err, data) {
+    t.is(typeof err, 'object');
+    t.is(err.name, 'CumulusMessageAdapterExecutionError');
+    t.is(data, undefined);
+    t.end();
+  }
+
+  cumulusMessageAdapter.runCumulusTask(businessLogic, inputEvent, {}, callback);
+});
diff --git a/test/test-index-with-env.js b/test/test-index-with-env.js
index 0a13c2c..925b483 100644
--- a/test/test-index-with-env.js
+++ b/test/test-index-with-env.js
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-/* eslint-disable require-jsdoc */
-
 const test = require('ava');
 const cumulusMessageAdapter = require('../index');
 
diff --git a/test/test-index.js b/test/test-index.js
index dc7f495..138bea1 100644
--- a/test/test-index.js
+++ b/test/test-index.js
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-/* eslint-disable require-jsdoc */
-
 const test = require('ava');
 const cumulusMessageAdapter = require('../index');