diff --git a/src/cli.rs b/src/cli.rs
index ec6a40267..19bc32652 100644
--- a/src/cli.rs
+++ b/src/cli.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use std::env;
+use std::{env, path::PathBuf};
 
 use crate::Target;
 use crate::cargo::Subcommand;
@@ -8,29 +8,44 @@ pub struct Args {
     pub all: Vec<String>,
     pub subcommand: Option<Subcommand>,
     pub target: Option<Target>,
+    pub target_dir: Option<PathBuf>,
 }
 
 pub fn parse(target_list: &TargetList) -> Args {
-    let all: Vec<_> = env::args().skip(1).collect();
-
     let mut target = None;
+    let mut target_dir = None;
     let mut sc = None;
+    let mut all: Vec<String> = Vec::new();
 
     {
-        let mut args = all.iter();
+        let mut args = env::args().skip(1);
         while let Some(arg) = args.next() {
-            if !arg.starts_with('-') && sc.is_none() {
-                sc = Some(Subcommand::from(&**arg))
-            }
-
             if arg == "--target" {
-                target = args.next().map(|s| Target::from(&**s, target_list))
+                all.push(arg);
+                if let Some(t) = args.next() {
+                    target = Some(Target::from(&t, target_list));
+                    all.push(t);
+                }
             } else if arg.starts_with("--target=") {
-                target = arg.splitn(2, '=')
-                    .nth(1)
-                    .map(|s| Target::from(&*s, target_list))
-            } else if !arg.starts_with('-') && sc.is_none() {
-                sc = Some(Subcommand::from(&**arg));
+                target = arg.splitn(2, '=').nth(1).map(|s| Target::from(&*s, target_list));
+                all.push(arg);
+            } else if arg == "--target-dir" {
+                all.push(arg);
+                if let Some(td) = args.next() {
+                    target_dir = Some(PathBuf::from(&td));
+                    all.push("/target".to_string());
+                }
+            } else if arg.starts_with("--target-dir=") {
+                if let Some(td) = arg.splitn(2, '=').nth(1) {
+                    target_dir = Some(PathBuf::from(&td));
+                    all.push(format!("--target-dir=/target"));
+                }
+            } else {
+              if !arg.starts_with('-') && sc.is_none() {
+                  sc = Some(Subcommand::from(arg.as_ref()));
+              }
+
+              all.push(arg.to_string());
             }
         }
     }
@@ -39,5 +54,6 @@ pub fn parse(target_list: &TargetList) -> Args {
         all,
         subcommand: sc,
         target,
+        target_dir,
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/docker.rs b/src/docker.rs
index fccad253b..511140b31 100644
--- a/src/docker.rs
+++ b/src/docker.rs
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ pub fn register(target: &Target, verbose: bool) -> Result<()> {
 
 pub fn run(target: &Target,
            args: &[String],
+           target_dir: &Option<PathBuf>,
            root: &Root,
            toml: Option<&Toml>,
            uses_xargo: bool,
@@ -63,7 +64,7 @@ pub fn run(target: &Target,
     let xargo_dir = env::var_os("XARGO_HOME")
         .map(PathBuf::from)
         .unwrap_or_else(|| home_dir.join(".xargo"));
-    let target_dir = root.join("target");
+    let target_dir = target_dir.clone().unwrap_or_else(|| root.join("target"));
 
     // create the directories we are going to mount before we mount them,
     // otherwise `docker` will create them but they will be owned by `root`
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 25730a57f..b6b0da5c5 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -280,6 +280,7 @@ fn run() -> Result<ExitStatus> {
 
                 return docker::run(&target,
                                    &args.all,
+                                   &args.target_dir,
                                    &root,
                                    toml.as_ref(),
                                    uses_xargo,