diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 980c8a4b..010cfe28 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ aliases:
        source $BASH_ENV
        source $WORKDIR/miniconda/etc/profile.d/conda.sh
        conda activate base
-       make conda-rerender workdir=$WORKDIR branch=$CIRCLE_BRANCH
+       make conda-rerender workdir=$WORKDIR conda_build_env=base branch=$CIRCLE_BRANCH
 
   - &conda_build
     name: conda_build
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ aliases:
        conda activate base
        os=`uname`
        artifacts_dir="artifacts/artifacts.${os}.noarch"
-       make conda-build workdir=$WORKDIR artifact_dir=$PWD/$artifacts_dir
+       make conda-build workdir=$WORKDIR conda_build_env=base artifact_dir=$PWD/$artifacts_dir
 
   - &setup_run_tests
     name: setup_run_tests
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 045aa446..72298bef 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ endif
 
 last_stable ?= 8.2
 
-conda_test_env = test-$(pkg_name)
-conda_build_env = build-$(pkg_name)
+conda_test_env ?= test-$(pkg_name)
+conda_build_env ?= build-$(pkg_name)
 
 branch ?= $(shell git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
 extra_channels ?= cdat/label/nightly conda-forge