diff --git a/hack/release.sh b/hack/release.sh
index f7a1f2bb5..b46a0135e 100755
--- a/hack/release.sh
+++ b/hack/release.sh
@@ -42,8 +42,14 @@ OFFICIAL_RELEASE=${OFFICIAL_RELEASE:-false}
 # LOCAL_RELEASE indicates that containerd has been built and released
 # locally.
 LOCAL_RELEASE=${LOCAL_RELEASE:-false}
-GOOS=$(go env GOOS)
-GOARCH=$(go env GOARCH)
+if [ -z "${GOOS:-}" ]
+then
+    GOOS=$(go env GOOS)
+fi
+if [ -z "${GOARCH:-}" ]
+then
+    GOARCH=$(go env GOARCH)
+fi
 
 
 destdir=${BUILD_DIR}/release-stage