diff --git a/ReactAndroid/hermes-engine/build.gradle b/ReactAndroid/hermes-engine/build.gradle
index 61780e38b97a2a..6cbadca13fa9ff 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/hermes-engine/build.gradle
+++ b/ReactAndroid/hermes-engine/build.gradle
@@ -101,10 +101,13 @@ android {
     compileSdkVersion 31
     buildToolsVersion = "31.0.0"
 
-    // Used to override the NDK path & version on internal CI
-    if (System.getenv("ANDROID_NDK") != null && System.getenv("LOCAL_ANDROID_NDK_VERSION") != null) {
-        ndkPath System.getenv("ANDROID_NDK")
-        ndkVersion System.getenv("LOCAL_ANDROID_NDK_VERSION")
+    // Used to override the NDK path/version on internal CI or by allowing
+    // users to customize the NDK path/version from their root project (e.g. for M1 support)
+    if (rootProject.hasProperty("ndkPath")) {
+        ndkPath rootProject.ext.ndkPath
+    }
+    if (rootProject.hasProperty("ndkVersion")) {
+        ndkVersion rootProject.ext.ndkVersion
     }
 
     defaultConfig {