diff --git a/bin/slaves.sh b/bin/slaves.sh
index 752565b759f77384b169f917bf212a474abd59ae..bcb77601300f362abf2df908912656851141eccb 100755
--- a/bin/slaves.sh
+++ b/bin/slaves.sh
@@ -46,6 +46,22 @@ bin=`cd "$bin"; pwd`
 # spark-env.sh. Save it here.
 HOSTLIST=$SPARK_SLAVES
 
+#check if conf dir passed as an argument
+if [ "$1" == "--config" ]
+then
+  shift
+  conf_dir=$1
+  if [ ! -d "$conf_dir" ]
+  then
+    echo "$conf_dir is not a valid directory"
+    echo $usage
+    exit 1
+  else
+    export SPARK_CONF_DIR=$conf_dir
+  fi
+  shift
+fi
+
 if [ -f "${SPARK_CONF_DIR}/spark-env.sh" ]; then
   . "${SPARK_CONF_DIR}/spark-env.sh"
 fi
diff --git a/bin/spark-daemon.sh b/bin/spark-daemon.sh
index 5bfe967fbfaeb76729ae3a30b81287cfb6021b55..48d552f3db41a101a70b99e80c466aad5ae14521 100755
--- a/bin/spark-daemon.sh
+++ b/bin/spark-daemon.sh
@@ -43,6 +43,23 @@ bin=`cd "$bin"; pwd`
 . "$bin/spark-config.sh"
 
 # get arguments
+
+# check if conf dir passed as an argument
+if [ "$1" == "--config" ]
+then
+  shift
+  conf_dir=$1
+  if [ ! -d "$conf_dir" ]
+  then
+    echo "$conf_dir is not a valid directory"
+    echo "FOUL :"$usage
+    exit 1
+  else
+    export SPARK_CONF_DIR=$conf_dir
+  fi
+  shift
+fi
+
 startStop=$1
 shift
 command=$1