diff --git a/elements/ubuntu/README.md b/elements/ubuntu/README.md
index 9c08bd75..009afe93 100644
--- a/elements/ubuntu/README.md
+++ b/elements/ubuntu/README.md
@@ -6,3 +6,5 @@ Overrides:
    use the environment variable DIB\_CLOUD\_IMAGES
  * To download a non-default release of Ubuntu cloud images, use the
    environment variable DIB\_RELEASE
+ * To use a different mirror rather than archive.ubuntu.com, use the
+   environment variable DIB\_DISTRIBUTION\_MIRROR
diff --git a/elements/ubuntu/pre-install.d/01-set-ubuntu-mirror b/elements/ubuntu/pre-install.d/01-set-ubuntu-mirror
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..9633e9cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/ubuntu/pre-install.d/01-set-ubuntu-mirror
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -eu
+
+DIB_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR=${DIB_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR:-}
+
+[ -n "$DIB_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR" ] || exit 0
+
+sudo sed -ie "s&http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu&$DIB_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR&" \
+    /etc/apt/sources.list