diff --git a/src/utils/specs.py b/src/utils/specs.py
index bf2d49a7c8..696f850c0e 100644
--- a/src/utils/specs.py
+++ b/src/utils/specs.py
@@ -186,14 +186,23 @@ def get_machine_specs(devicenum):
             break
 
     if not rocmFound:
-        _rocm_path = os.getenv("ROCM_PATH", "/opt/rocm")
-        print("Error: Unable to detect a complete local ROCm installation.")
-        print(
-            "\nThe expected %s/.info/ versioning directory is missing. Please"
-            % _rocm_path
-        )
-        print("ensure you have valid ROCm installation.")
-        sys.exit(1)
+        # check if ROCM_VER is supplied externally
+        ROCM_VER_USER = os.getenv("ROCM_VER")
+        if ROCM_VER_USER is not None:
+            print(
+                "Overriding missing ROCm version detection with ROCM_VER = %s"
+                % ROCM_VER_USER
+            )
+            rocm_ver = ROCM_VER_USER
+        else:
+            _rocm_path = os.getenv("ROCM_PATH", "/opt/rocm")
+            print("Error: Unable to detect a complete local ROCm installation.")
+            print(
+                "\nThe expected %s/.info/ versioning directory is missing. Please"
+                % _rocm_path
+            )
+            print("ensure you have valid ROCm installation.")
+            sys.exit(1)
 
     (
         gpu_id,