diff --git a/docs/api.md b/docs/api.md
index 0910e4a4..b31771cc 100644
--- a/docs/api.md
+++ b/docs/api.md
@@ -342,12 +342,13 @@ However, you should use `puppeteer-core` if:
 ### Environment Variables
 
 Puppeteer looks for certain [environment variables](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_variable) to aid its operations.
-If puppeteer doesn't find them in the environment, a lowercased variant of these variables will be used from the [npm config](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/config).
+If Puppeteer doesn't find them in the environment during the installation step, a lowercased variant of these variables will be used from the [npm config](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/config).
 
 - `HTTP_PROXY`, `HTTPS_PROXY`, `NO_PROXY` - defines HTTP proxy settings that are used to download and run Chromium.
 - `PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD` - do not download bundled Chromium during installation step.
 - `PUPPETEER_DOWNLOAD_HOST` - overwrite host part of URL that is used to download Chromium
-- `PUPPETEER_CHROMIUM_REVISION` - specify a certain version of chrome you'd like puppeteer to use during the installation step.
+- `PUPPETEER_CHROMIUM_REVISION` - specify a certain version of Chromium you'd like Puppeteer to use. See [puppeteer.launch([options])](#puppeteerlaunchoptions) on how executable path is inferred. **BEWARE**: Puppeteer is only [guaranteed to work](https://github.com/GoogleChrome/puppeteer/#q-why-doesnt-puppeteer-vxxx-work-with-chromium-vyyy) with the bundled Chromium, use at your own risk.
+- `PUPPETEER_EXECUTABLE_PATH` - specify an executable path to be used in `puppeteer.launch`. See [puppeteer.launch([options])](#puppeteerlaunchoptions) on how the executable path is inferred. **BEWARE**: Puppeteer is only [guaranteed to work](https://github.com/GoogleChrome/puppeteer/#q-why-doesnt-puppeteer-vxxx-work-with-chromium-vyyy) with the bundled Chromium, use at your own risk.
 
 > **NOTE** PUPPETEER_* env variables are not accounted for in the [`puppeteer-core`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/puppeteer-core) package.
 
@@ -462,7 +463,7 @@ The default flags that Chromium will be launched with.
 - `options` <[Object]>  Set of configurable options to set on the browser. Can have the following fields:
   - `ignoreHTTPSErrors` <[boolean]> Whether to ignore HTTPS errors during navigation. Defaults to `false`.
   - `headless` <[boolean]> Whether to run browser in [headless mode](https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2017/04/headless-chrome). Defaults to `true` unless the `devtools` option is `true`.
-  - `executablePath` <[string]> Path to a Chromium or Chrome executable to run instead of the bundled Chromium. If `executablePath` is a relative path, then it is resolved relative to [current working directory](https://nodejs.org/api/process.html#process_process_cwd).
+  - `executablePath` <[string]> Path to a Chromium or Chrome executable to run instead of the bundled Chromium. If `executablePath` is a relative path, then it is resolved relative to [current working directory](https://nodejs.org/api/process.html#process_process_cwd). **BEWARE**: Puppeteer is only [guaranteed to work](https://github.com/GoogleChrome/puppeteer/#q-why-doesnt-puppeteer-vxxx-work-with-chromium-vyyy) with the bundled Chromium, use at your own risk.
   - `slowMo` <[number]> Slows down Puppeteer operations by the specified amount of milliseconds. Useful so that you can see what is going on.
   - `defaultViewport` <?[Object]> Sets a consistent viewport for each page. Defaults to an 800x600 viewport. `null` disables the default viewport.
     - `width` <[number]> page width in pixels.
@@ -484,13 +485,8 @@ The default flags that Chromium will be launched with.
   - `pipe` <[boolean]> Connects to the browser over a pipe instead of a WebSocket. Defaults to `false`.
 - returns: <[Promise]<[Browser]>> Promise which resolves to browser instance.
 
-The method combines 3 steps:
-1. Infer a set of flags to launch Chromium with using `puppeteer.defaultArgs()`.
-2. Launch a browser and start managing its process according to `executablePath`, `handleSIGINT`, `dumpio` and other options.
-3. Create an instance of [Browser] class and initialize it with regards to `defaultViewport`, `slowMo` and `ignoreHTTPSErrors`.
 
-`ignoreDefaultArgs` option can be used to customize behavior on the (1) step. For example, to filter out
-`--mute-audio` from default arguments:
+You can use `ignoreDefaultArgs` to filter out `--mute-audio` from default arguments:
 ```js
 const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
   ignoreDefaultArgs: ['--mute-audio']
diff --git a/lib/Launcher.js b/lib/Launcher.js
index 9c6a2c52..c8fff027 100644
--- a/lib/Launcher.js
+++ b/lib/Launcher.js
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ const {Connection} = require('./Connection');
 const {Browser} = require('./Browser');
 const readline = require('readline');
 const fs = require('fs');
-const {helper, assert, debugError} = require('./helper');
+const {helper, debugError} = require('./helper');
 const ChromiumRevision = require(path.join(helper.projectRoot(), 'package.json')).puppeteer.chromium_revision;
 const {TimeoutError} = require('./Errors');
 
@@ -95,10 +95,10 @@ class Launcher {
 
     let chromeExecutable = executablePath;
     if (!executablePath) {
-      const browserFetcher = new BrowserFetcher();
-      const revisionInfo = browserFetcher.revisionInfo(ChromiumRevision);
-      assert(revisionInfo.local, `Chromium revision is not downloaded. Run "npm install" or "yarn install"`);
-      chromeExecutable = revisionInfo.executablePath;
+      const {missingText, executablePath} = resolveExecutablePath();
+      if (missingText)
+        throw new Error(missingText);
+      chromeExecutable = executablePath;
     }
 
     const usePipe = chromeArguments.includes('--remote-debugging-pipe');
@@ -252,9 +252,7 @@ class Launcher {
    * @return {string}
    */
   static executablePath() {
-    const browserFetcher = new BrowserFetcher();
-    const revisionInfo = browserFetcher.revisionInfo(ChromiumRevision);
-    return revisionInfo.executablePath;
+    return resolveExecutablePath().executablePath;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -330,6 +328,27 @@ function waitForWSEndpoint(chromeProcess, timeout) {
   });
 }
 
+/**
+ * @return {{executablePath: string, missingText: ?string}}
+ */
+function resolveExecutablePath() {
+  const executablePath = helper.getEnv('PUPPETEER_EXECUTABLE_PATH');
+  if (executablePath) {
+    const missingText = !fs.existsSync(executablePath) ? 'Tried to use PUPPETEER_EXECUTABLE_PATH env variable to launch browser but did not find any executable at: ' + executablePath : null;
+    return { executablePath, missingText };
+  }
+  const browserFetcher = new BrowserFetcher();
+  const revision = helper.getEnv('PUPPETEER_CHROMIUM_REVISION');
+  if (revision) {
+    const revisionInfo = browserFetcher.revisionInfo(revision);
+    const missingText = !revisionInfo.local ? 'Tried to use PUPPETEER_CHROMIUM_REVISION env variable to launch browser but did not find executable at: ' + revisionInfo.executablePath : null;
+    return {executablePath: revisionInfo.executablePath, missingText};
+  }
+  const revisionInfo = browserFetcher.revisionInfo(ChromiumRevision);
+  const missingText = !revisionInfo.local ? `Chromium revision is not downloaded. Run "npm install" or "yarn install"` : null;
+  return {executablePath: revisionInfo.executablePath, missingText};
+}
+
 /**
  * @typedef {Object} ChromeArgOptions
  * @property {boolean=} headless
diff --git a/lib/helper.js b/lib/helper.js
index f5dbf0e3..ddf7de53 100644
--- a/lib/helper.js
+++ b/lib/helper.js
@@ -20,7 +20,11 @@ const {TimeoutError} = require('./Errors');
 const debugError = require('debug')(`puppeteer:error`);
 /** @type {?Map<string, boolean>} */
 let apiCoverage = null;
-let projectRoot = null;
+
+// Project root will be different for node6-transpiled code.
+const projectRoot = fs.existsSync(path.join(__dirname, '..', 'package.json')) ? path.join(__dirname, '..') : path.join(__dirname, '..', '..');
+const packageJson = require(path.join(projectRoot, 'package.json'));
+
 class Helper {
   /**
    * @param {Function|string} fun
@@ -45,14 +49,21 @@ class Helper {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @param {string} name
+   * @return {(string|undefined)}
+   */
+  static getEnv(name) {
+    // Ignore all PUPPETEER_* env variables in puppeteer-core package.
+    if (name.startsWith('PUPPETEER_') && packageJson.name === 'puppeteer-core')
+      return undefined;
+    return process.env[name];
+  }
+
   /**
    * @return {string}
    */
   static projectRoot() {
-    if (!projectRoot) {
-      // Project root will be different for node6-transpiled code.
-      projectRoot = fs.existsSync(path.join(__dirname, '..', 'package.json')) ? path.join(__dirname, '..') : path.join(__dirname, '..', '..');
-    }
     return projectRoot;
   }