--- a/mpy-cross/mpy_cross/__init__.py
+++ b/mpy-cross/mpy_cross/__init__.py
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@
 def _find_mpy_cross_binary(mpy_cross):
     if mpy_cross:
         return mpy_cross
+    # Check for MPY_CROSS environment variable first (for cross-compilation)
+    env_mpy_cross = os.environ.get("MPY_CROSS")
+    if env_mpy_cross:
+        return env_mpy_cross
     return os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "../build/mpy-cross"))