diff --git a/zfs_replication_exporter.go b/zfs_replication_exporter.go
index 67aec4c..2763f43 100644
--- a/zfs_replication_exporter.go
+++ b/zfs_replication_exporter.go
@@ -78,11 +78,15 @@ func init() {
 
 func newPublicKey() ([]ssh.AuthMethod, error) {
 	var signers []ssh.AuthMethod
-
-	for _, path := range []string{
+	possiblePaths := []string{
 		filepath.Join(os.Getenv("HOME"), ".ssh", "id_dsa"),
 		filepath.Join(os.Getenv("HOME"), ".ssh", "id_rsa"),
-	} {
+	}
+	if p := os.Getenv("SSH_PRIVATE_KEY"); p != "" {
+		possiblePaths = append([]string{p}, possiblePaths...)
+	}
+
+	for _, path := range possiblePaths {
 
 		// A public key may be used to authenticate against the remote
 		// server by using an unencrypted PEM-encoded private key file.
@@ -97,6 +101,7 @@ func newPublicKey() ([]ssh.AuthMethod, error) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to read private key %q: %v", path, err)
 		}
 
+		glog.Infof("Using private key %q", path)
 		// Create the Signer for this private key.
 		signer, err := ssh.ParsePrivateKey(key)
 		if err != nil {