diff --git a/docs/building_blocks.md b/docs/building_blocks.md
index a36694f..f776140 100644
--- a/docs/building_blocks.md
+++ b/docs/building_blocks.md
@@ -3911,6 +3911,9 @@ empty.
 upgraded prior to installing any PyPi packages.  The default is
 False.
 
+- __install_args__: List of arguments to pass to `pip install`.  The
+default is an empty list. Only applies to the `packages` parameter.
+
 __Examples__
 
 
diff --git a/hpccm/building_blocks/pip.py b/hpccm/building_blocks/pip.py
index 178b46c..d1a7176 100644
--- a/hpccm/building_blocks/pip.py
+++ b/hpccm/building_blocks/pip.py
@@ -66,6 +66,9 @@ class pip(bb_base, hpccm.templates.rm):
     upgraded prior to installing any PyPi packages.  The default is
     False.
 
+    install_args: List of arguments to pass to `pip install`.  The
+    default is an empty list. Only applies to the `packages` parameter.
+
     # Examples
 
     ```python
@@ -96,6 +99,7 @@ def __init__(self, **kwargs):
         self.__requirements = kwargs.get('requirements', None)
         self.__upgrade = kwargs.get('upgrade', False)
         self.__wd = kwargs.get('wd', hpccm.config.g_wd) # working directory
+        self.__install_args = kwargs.get('install_args', [])
 
         self.__debs = [] # Filled in below
         self.__rpms = [] # Filled in below
@@ -170,4 +174,7 @@ def __instructions(self):
                 quoted_packages = [shlex_quote(pkg) for pkg in self.__packages]
                 cmds.append('{0} install {1}'.format(self.__pip,
                                                      ' '.join(quoted_packages)))
+                if self.__install_args:
+                    cmds[-1] += ' {0}'.format(' '.join(self.__install_args))
+
             self += shell(commands=cmds)
diff --git a/test/test_pip.py b/test/test_pip.py
index 1bc6498..d79f0ed 100644
--- a/test/test_pip.py
+++ b/test/test_pip.py
@@ -175,3 +175,13 @@ def test_package_with_version(self):
         self.assertEqual(str(p),
 r"""# pip
 RUN pip --no-cache-dir install 'hpccm>=1.0'""")
+
+    @ubuntu
+    @docker
+    def test_install_args(self):
+        """install_args option"""
+        p = pip(ospackages=[], packages=['hpccm'],
+                install_args=['--index-url https://my-index.com'])
+        self.assertEqual(str(p),
+r'''# pip
+RUN pip --no-cache-dir install hpccm --index-url https://my-index.com''')