diff --git a/common/arg.cpp b/common/arg.cpp
index fa22e86c..96facce6 100644
--- a/common/arg.cpp
+++ b/common/arg.cpp
@@ -656,9 +656,13 @@ static void common_params_handle_model(
                 }
             }
 
-            // TODO: allow custom host
-            model.url = "https://huggingface.co/" + model.hf_repo + "/resolve/main/" + model.hf_file;
-
+            std::string hf_endpoint = "https://huggingface.co/";
+            const char * hf_endpoint_env = getenv("HF_ENDPOINT");
+            if (hf_endpoint_env) {
+                hf_endpoint = hf_endpoint_env;
+                if (hf_endpoint.back() != '/') hf_endpoint += '/';
+            }
+            model.url = hf_endpoint + model.hf_repo + "/resolve/main/" + model.hf_file;
             // make sure model path is present (for caching purposes)
             if (model.path.empty()) {
                 // this is to avoid different repo having same file name, or same file name in different subdirs