diff --git a/torchx/components/dist.py b/torchx/components/dist.py
index e369ec5b7..b8c2654f7 100644
--- a/torchx/components/dist.py
+++ b/torchx/components/dist.py
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@
 -----------------
 """
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Optional
+from typing import Dict, Optional
 
 import torchx
 import torchx.specs as specs
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ def ddp(
     memMB: int = 1024,
     h: Optional[str] = None,
     j: str = "1x2",
+    env: Optional[Dict[str, str]] = None,
     rdzv_endpoint: str = "etcd-server.default.svc.cluster.local:2379",
 ) -> specs.AppDef:
     """
@@ -160,6 +161,7 @@ def ddp(
         memMB: cpu memory in MB per replica
         h: a registered named resource (if specified takes precedence over cpu, gpu, memMB)
         j: {nnodes}x{nproc_per_node}, for gpu hosts, nproc_per_node must not exceed num gpus
+        env: environment varibles to be passed to the run (e.g. ENV1=v1,ENV2=v2,ENV3=v3)
         rdzv_endpoint: etcd server endpoint (only matters when nnodes > 1)
     """
 
@@ -199,6 +201,7 @@ def ddp(
                     script,
                     *script_args,
                 ],
+                env=env or {},
             )
         ],
     )