diff --git a/doc/user-guide/src/environment-variables.md b/doc/user-guide/src/environment-variables.md
index 559fe4ad1f..5253ac195d 100644
--- a/doc/user-guide/src/environment-variables.md
+++ b/doc/user-guide/src/environment-variables.md
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@
 - `RUSTUP_UPDATE_ROOT` (default `https://static.rust-lang.org/rustup`). Sets
   the root URL for downloading self-update.
 
+- `RUSTUP_VERSION` (default: none). Overrides the rustup version (e.g. `1.27.1`)
+  to be downloaded when executing `rustup-init.sh` or `rustup self update`.
+
 - `RUSTUP_IO_THREADS` *unstable* (defaults to reported cpu count). Sets the
   number of threads to perform close IO in. Set to `1` to force
   single-threaded IO for troubleshooting, or an arbitrary number to override
diff --git a/rustup-init.sh b/rustup-init.sh
index 52f2b9e1f5..8b69c9e086 100755
--- a/rustup-init.sh
+++ b/rustup-init.sh
@@ -87,7 +87,15 @@ main() {
             ;;
     esac
 
-    local _url="${RUSTUP_UPDATE_ROOT}/dist/${_arch}/rustup-init${_ext}"
+    local _url
+    if [ "${RUSTUP_VERSION+set}" = 'set' ]; then
+        say "\`RUSTUP_VERSION\` has been set to \`${RUSTUP_VERSION}\`"
+        _url="${RUSTUP_UPDATE_ROOT}/archive/${RUSTUP_VERSION}"
+    else
+        _url="${RUSTUP_UPDATE_ROOT}/dist"
+    fi
+    _url="${_url}/${_arch}/rustup-init${_ext}"
+
 
     local _dir
     if ! _dir="$(ensure mktemp -d)"; then
diff --git a/src/cli/self_update.rs b/src/cli/self_update.rs
index 42741a91aa..62bd638f27 100644
--- a/src/cli/self_update.rs
+++ b/src/cli/self_update.rs
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ use crate::{
         errors::*,
         markdown::md,
     },
-    config::Cfg,
+    config::{Cfg, non_empty_env_var},
     dist::{self, PartialToolchainDesc, Profile, TargetTriple, ToolchainDesc},
     errors::RustupError,
     install::UpdateStatus,
@@ -1104,7 +1104,12 @@ pub(crate) async fn prepare_update(process: &Process) -> Result<Option<PathBuf>>
 
     // Get available version
     info!("checking for self-update");
-    let available_version = get_available_rustup_version(process).await?;
+    let available_version = if let Some(ver) = non_empty_env_var("RUSTUP_VERSION", process)? {
+        info!("`RUSTUP_VERSION` has been set to `{ver}`");
+        ver
+    } else {
+        get_available_rustup_version(process).await?
+    };
 
     // If up-to-date
     if available_version == current_version {
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 68ad62b0f8..f4b4471bd0 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -1027,22 +1027,25 @@ impl<'a> Cfg<'a> {
     }
 }
 
+/// The root path of the release server, without the `/dist` suffix.
+/// By default, it points to [`dist::DEFAULT_DIST_SERVER`].
 pub(crate) fn dist_root_server(process: &Process) -> Result<String> {
-    Ok(match non_empty_env_var("RUSTUP_DIST_SERVER", process)? {
-        Some(s) => {
+    Ok(
+        if let Some(s) = non_empty_env_var("RUSTUP_DIST_SERVER", process)? {
             trace!("`RUSTUP_DIST_SERVER` has been set to `{s}`");
             s
         }
-        None => {
-            // For backward compatibility
-            non_empty_env_var("RUSTUP_DIST_ROOT", process)?
-                .inspect(|url| trace!("`RUSTUP_DIST_ROOT` has been set to `{url}`"))
-                .as_ref()
-                .map(|root| root.trim_end_matches("/dist"))
-                .unwrap_or(dist::DEFAULT_DIST_SERVER)
-                .to_owned()
-        }
-    })
+        // For backwards compatibility
+        else if let Some(mut root) = non_empty_env_var("RUSTUP_DIST_ROOT", process)? {
+            trace!("`RUSTUP_DIST_ROOT` has been set to `{root}`");
+            if let Some(stripped) = root.strip_suffix("/dist") {
+                root.truncate(stripped.len());
+            }
+            root
+        } else {
+            dist::DEFAULT_DIST_SERVER.to_owned()
+        },
+    )
 }
 
 impl Debug for Cfg<'_> {
@@ -1088,7 +1091,7 @@ fn get_default_host_triple(s: &Settings, process: &Process) -> TargetTriple {
         .unwrap_or_else(|| TargetTriple::from_host_or_build(process))
 }
 
-fn non_empty_env_var(name: &str, process: &Process) -> anyhow::Result<Option<String>> {
+pub(crate) fn non_empty_env_var(name: &str, process: &Process) -> anyhow::Result<Option<String>> {
     match process.var(name) {
         Ok(s) if !s.is_empty() => Ok(Some(s)),
         Ok(_) => Ok(None),
diff --git a/src/test/clitools.rs b/src/test/clitools.rs
index 4a05603ac3..0cc5f69dc6 100644
--- a/src/test/clitools.rs
+++ b/src/test/clitools.rs
@@ -220,7 +220,19 @@ impl Config {
 
     /// Expect an exact strings on stdout/stderr with an ok status code
     pub async fn expect_ok_ex(&mut self, args: &[&str], stdout: &str, stderr: &str) {
-        let out = self.run(args[0], &args[1..], &[]).await;
+        self.expect_ok_ex_env(args, &[], stdout, stderr).await;
+    }
+
+    /// Expect an exact strings on stdout/stderr with an ok status code,
+    /// with extra environment variables
+    pub async fn expect_ok_ex_env(
+        &mut self,
+        args: &[&str],
+        env: &[(&str, &str)],
+        stdout: &str,
+        stderr: &str,
+    ) {
+        let out = self.run(args[0], &args[1..], env).await;
         if !out.ok || out.stdout != stdout || out.stderr != stderr {
             print_command(args, &out);
             println!("expected.ok: true");
diff --git a/tests/suite/cli_self_upd.rs b/tests/suite/cli_self_upd.rs
index 1d0e820681..b3cd21a0e9 100644
--- a/tests/suite/cli_self_upd.rs
+++ b/tests/suite/cli_self_upd.rs
@@ -385,6 +385,30 @@ info: downloading self-update
         .await;
 }
 
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn update_precise() {
+    let version = env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION");
+    let expected_output = format!(
+        "info: checking for self-update
+info: `RUSTUP_VERSION` has been set to `{TEST_VERSION}`
+info: downloading self-update
+"
+    );
+
+    let mut cx = SelfUpdateTestContext::new(TEST_VERSION).await;
+    cx.config
+        .expect_ok(&["rustup-init", "-y", "--no-modify-path"])
+        .await;
+    cx.config
+        .expect_ok_ex_env(
+            &["rustup", "self", "update"],
+            &[("RUSTUP_VERSION", TEST_VERSION)],
+            &format!("  rustup updated - {version} (from {version})\n\n",),
+            &expected_output,
+        )
+        .await;
+}
+
 #[cfg(windows)]
 #[tokio::test]
 async fn update_overwrites_programs_display_version() {