diff --git a/contrib/android/build.sh b/contrib/android/build.sh
index be1514ba7..02d803de0 100755
--- a/contrib/android/build.sh
+++ b/contrib/android/build.sh
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ docker build \
 # maybe do fresh clone
 if [ ! -z "$ELECBUILD_COMMIT" ] ; then
     info "ELECBUILD_COMMIT=$ELECBUILD_COMMIT. doing fresh clone and git checkout."
-    FRESH_CLONE="/tmp/electrum_build/android/fresh_clone/electrum"
+    FRESH_CLONE=${FRESH_CLONE:-"/tmp/electrum_build/android/fresh_clone/electrum"}
     rm -rf "$FRESH_CLONE" 2>/dev/null || ( info "we need sudo to rm prev FRESH_CLONE." && sudo rm -rf "$FRESH_CLONE" )
     umask 0022
     git clone "$PROJECT_ROOT" "$FRESH_CLONE"