diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 579a6872..365d57b1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -133,6 +133,8 @@ The build script can be configured via environment variables:
   (if specified).
 * `OPENSSL_STATIC` - If specified, OpenSSL libraries will be statically rather
   than dynamically linked.
+* `OPENSSL_LIBS` - If specified, the names of the OpenSSL libraries that will be
+  linked, e.g. `ssl:crypto`.
 
 If `OPENSSL_DIR` is specified, then the build script will skip the pkg-config
 step.
diff --git a/openssl-sys/build.rs b/openssl-sys/build.rs
index fc0f4680..969c5983 100644
--- a/openssl-sys/build.rs
+++ b/openssl-sys/build.rs
@@ -65,16 +65,23 @@ fn main() {
 
     let version = validate_headers(&[include_dir.clone().into()]);
 
-    let libs = match version {
-        Version::Openssl101 | Version::Openssl102 if target.contains("windows") => {
-            ["ssleay32", "libeay32"]
+    let libs_env = env::var("OPENSSL_LIBS").ok();
+    let libs = match libs_env {
+        Some(ref v) => v.split(":").collect(),
+        None => {
+            match version {
+                Version::Openssl101 | Version::Openssl102 if target.contains("windows") => {
+                    vec!["ssleay32", "libeay32"]
+                }
+                Version::Openssl110 if target.contains("windows") => vec!["libssl", "libcrypto"],
+                _ => vec!["ssl", "crypto"],
+            }
         }
-        Version::Openssl110 if target.contains("windows") => ["libssl", "libcrypto"],
-        _ => ["ssl", "crypto"],
     };
 
+
     let kind = determine_mode(Path::new(&lib_dir), &libs);
-    for lib in libs.iter() {
+    for lib in libs.into_iter() {
         println!("cargo:rustc-link-lib={}={}", kind, lib);
     }
 }