diff --git a/pkg/cmd/root/help_topic.go b/pkg/cmd/root/help_topic.go
index 59c8b12a3..42892d76d 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/root/help_topic.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/root/help_topic.go
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ var HelpTopics = map[string]map[string]string{
 			"$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gh" or "$HOME/.config/gh".
 
 			GH_PROMPT_DISABLED: set to any value to disable interactive prompting in the terminal.
+
+			GH_PATH: set the path to the gh executable, useful for when gh can not properly determine
+			its own path such as in the cygwin terminal.
 		`),
 	},
 	"reference": {
diff --git a/pkg/cmdutil/factory.go b/pkg/cmdutil/factory.go
index e00e1a89a..2d7a73a62 100644
--- a/pkg/cmdutil/factory.go
+++ b/pkg/cmdutil/factory.go
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ type Factory struct {
 
 // Executable is the path to the currently invoked binary
 func (f *Factory) Executable() string {
+	ghPath := os.Getenv("GH_PATH")
+	if ghPath != "" {
+		return ghPath
+	}
 	if !strings.ContainsRune(f.ExecutableName, os.PathSeparator) {
 		f.ExecutableName = executable(f.ExecutableName)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/cmdutil/factory_test.go b/pkg/cmdutil/factory_test.go
index 66b43dda3..eb87ce360 100644
--- a/pkg/cmdutil/factory_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmdutil/factory_test.go
@@ -54,3 +54,12 @@ func Test_executable(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("executable() = %q, want %q", got, bin2Exe)
 	}
 }
+
+func Test_Executable_override(t *testing.T) {
+	override := strings.Join([]string{"C:", "cygwin64", "home", "gh.exe"}, string(os.PathSeparator))
+	t.Setenv("GH_PATH", override)
+	f := Factory{}
+	if got := f.Executable(); got != override {
+		t.Errorf("executable() = %q, want %q", got, override)
+	}
+}