diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index 7500240..064532b 100644
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -125,7 +125,14 @@ def main():
     global device
     args = get_args_parser()
     device = torch.device(args.device)
-    model_path = download_model()
+
+    if os.environ.get("LAMA_MODEL"):
+        model_path = os.environ.get("LAMA_MODEL")
+        if not os.path.exists(model_path):
+            raise FileNotFoundError(f"lama torchscript model not found: {model_path}")
+    else:
+        model_path = download_model()
+
     model = torch.jit.load(model_path, map_location="cpu")
     model = model.to(device)
     app.run(host="0.0.0.0", port=args.port, debug=args.debug)