diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 5b37ddf..a858ff0 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ gopsutil: psutil for golang
         :target: https://coveralls.io/r/shirou/gopsutil?branch=master
 
 
-This is a port of psutil (http://pythonhosted.org/psutil/). The challenge is porting all 
+This is a port of psutil (http://pythonhosted.org/psutil/). The challenge is porting all
 psutil functions on some architectures...
 
 .. highlights:: Package Structure Changed!
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ The output is below.
   Total: 3179569152, Free:284233728, UsedPercent:84.508194%
   {"total":3179569152,"available":492572672,"used":2895335424,"usedPercent":84.50819439828305, (snip)}
 
+You can set an alternative location to /proc by setting the HOST_PROC environment variable.
 
 Documentation
 ------------------------
@@ -178,7 +179,7 @@ suspend             x     x      x
 resume              x     x      x
 terminate           x     x      x
 kill                x     x      x
-username            x           
+username            x
 ionice
 rlimit
 num_handlres
@@ -204,7 +205,7 @@ hostname              x     x      x       x
   platform            x     x      x
   platformfamiliy     x     x      x
   virtualization      x
-**CPU**       
+**CPU**
   VendorID            x     x      x       x
   Family              x     x      x       x
   Model               x     x      x       x
@@ -213,16 +214,16 @@ hostname              x     x      x       x
   CoreID              x
   Cores               x                    x
   ModelName           x     x      x       x
-**LoadAvg**              
+**LoadAvg**
   Load1               x     x      x
   Load5               x     x      x
   Load15              x     x      x
-**GetDockerID**          
+**GetDockerID**
   container id        x     no    no      no
-**CgroupsCPU**           
+**CgroupsCPU**
   user                x     no    no      no
   system              x     no    no      no
-**CgroupsMem**           
+**CgroupsMem**
   various             x     no    no      no
 ================== ===== ======= ====== =======
 
diff --git a/common/common.go b/common/common.go
index a7dbc28..d04cdfd 100644
--- a/common/common.go
+++ b/common/common.go
@@ -207,3 +207,12 @@ func PathExists(filename string) bool {
 	}
 	return false
 }
+
+//GetEnv retreives the environment variable key. If it does not exist it returns the default.
+func GetEnv(key string, dfault string) string {
+	value := os.Getenv(key)
+	if value == "" {
+		value = dfault
+	}
+	return value
+}
diff --git a/cpu/cpu_linux.go b/cpu/cpu_linux.go
index 942ef0c..1bec8a7 100644
--- a/cpu/cpu_linux.go
+++ b/cpu/cpu_linux.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 func CPUTimes(percpu bool) ([]CPUTimesStat, error) {
-	filename := "/proc/stat"
+	filename := common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc") + "/stat"
 	var lines = []string{}
 	if percpu {
 		var startIdx uint = 1
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func CPUTimes(percpu bool) ([]CPUTimesStat, error) {
 }
 
 func CPUInfo() ([]CPUInfoStat, error) {
-	filename := "/proc/cpuinfo"
+	filename := common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc") + "cpuinfo"
 	lines, _ := common.ReadLines(filename)
 
 	var ret []CPUInfoStat
diff --git a/disk/disk_linux.go b/disk/disk_linux.go
index df59f6a..93f59b0 100644
--- a/disk/disk_linux.go
+++ b/disk/disk_linux.go
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ func DiskPartitions(all bool) ([]DiskPartitionStat, error) {
 }
 
 func DiskIOCounters() (map[string]DiskIOCountersStat, error) {
-	filename := "/proc/diskstats"
+	filename := common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc") + "/diskstats"
 	lines, err := common.ReadLines(filename)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/host/host_linux.go b/host/host_linux.go
index 518987f..9131fa8 100644
--- a/host/host_linux.go
+++ b/host/host_linux.go
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@ func HostInfo() (*HostInfoStat, error) {
 
 // BootTime returns the system boot time expressed in seconds since the epoch.
 func BootTime() (uint64, error) {
-	lines, err := common.ReadLines("/proc/stat")
+	filename := common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc") + "/stat"
+	lines, err := common.ReadLines(filename)
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}
@@ -320,12 +321,13 @@ func GetVirtualization() (string, string, error) {
 	var system string
 	var role string
 
-	if common.PathExists("/proc/xen") {
+	filename := common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc") + "/xen"
+	if common.PathExists(filename) {
 		system = "xen"
 		role = "guest" // assume guest
 
-		if common.PathExists("/proc/xen/capabilities") {
-			contents, err := common.ReadLines("/proc/xen/capabilities")
+		if common.PathExists(filename + "/capabilities") {
+			contents, err := common.ReadLines(filename + "/capabilities")
 			if err == nil {
 				if common.StringsHas(contents, "control_d") {
 					role = "host"
@@ -333,8 +335,10 @@ func GetVirtualization() (string, string, error) {
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	if common.PathExists("/proc/modules") {
-		contents, err := common.ReadLines("/proc/modules")
+
+	filename = common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc") + "/modules"
+	if common.PathExists(filename) {
+		contents, err := common.ReadLines(filename)
 		if err == nil {
 			if common.StringsContains(contents, "kvm") {
 				system = "kvm"
@@ -349,8 +353,9 @@ func GetVirtualization() (string, string, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if common.PathExists("/proc/cpuinfo") {
-		contents, err := common.ReadLines("/proc/cpuinfo")
+	filename = common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc") + "/cpuinfo"
+	if common.PathExists(filename) {
+		contents, err := common.ReadLines(filename)
 		if err == nil {
 			if common.StringsHas(contents, "QEMU Virtual CPU") ||
 				common.StringsHas(contents, "Common KVM processor") ||
@@ -361,18 +366,18 @@ func GetVirtualization() (string, string, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if common.PathExists("/proc/bc/0") {
+	filename = common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc")
+	if common.PathExists(filename + "/bc/0") {
 		system = "openvz"
 		role = "host"
-	} else if common.PathExists("/proc/vz") {
+	} else if common.PathExists(filename + "/vz") {
 		system = "openvz"
 		role = "guest"
 	}
 
 	// not use dmidecode because it requires root
-
-	if common.PathExists("/proc/self/status") {
-		contents, err := common.ReadLines("/proc/self/status")
+	if common.PathExists(filename + "/self/status") {
+		contents, err := common.ReadLines(filename + "/self/status")
 		if err == nil {
 
 			if common.StringsHas(contents, "s_context:") ||
@@ -383,8 +388,8 @@ func GetVirtualization() (string, string, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if common.PathExists("/proc/self/cgroup") {
-		contents, err := common.ReadLines("/proc/self/cgroup")
+	if common.PathExists(filename + "/self/cgroup") {
+		contents, err := common.ReadLines(filename + "/self/cgroup")
 		if err == nil {
 			if common.StringsHas(contents, "lxc") ||
 				common.StringsHas(contents, "docker") {
diff --git a/host/host_windows.go b/host/host_windows.go
index eecbdf0..e8ba125 100644
--- a/host/host_windows.go
+++ b/host/host_windows.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/StackExchange/wmi"
 
 	common "github.com/shirou/gopsutil/common"
-	process "github.com/shirou/gopsutil/process"
+	process "github.com/shirou/gopsutil/common/process"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ func HostInfo() (*HostInfoStat, error) {
 		ret.Platform = platform
 		ret.PlatformFamily = family
 		ret.PlatformVersion = version
+	} else {
+		return ret, err
 	}
 
 	ret.Uptime, err = BootTime()
diff --git a/load/load_linux.go b/load/load_linux.go
index 6c9926b..4ab5a96 100644
--- a/load/load_linux.go
+++ b/load/load_linux.go
@@ -6,10 +6,12 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+
+	common "github.com/shirou/gopsutil/common"
 )
 
 func LoadAvg() (*LoadAvgStat, error) {
-	filename := "/proc/loadavg"
+	filename := common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc") + "/loadavg"
 	line, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filename)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/mem/mem_linux.go b/mem/mem_linux.go
index ccad5da..e45a084 100644
--- a/mem/mem_linux.go
+++ b/mem/mem_linux.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func VirtualMemory() (*VirtualMemoryStat, error) {
-	filename := "/proc/meminfo"
+	filename := common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc") + "/meminfo"
 	lines, _ := common.ReadLines(filename)
 	// flag if MemAvailable is in /proc/meminfo (kernel 3.14+)
 	memavail := false
@@ -74,7 +74,8 @@ func SwapMemory() (*SwapMemoryStat, error) {
 	} else {
 		ret.UsedPercent = 0
 	}
-	lines, _ := common.ReadLines("/proc/vmstat")
+	filename := common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc") + "/vmstat"
+	lines, _ := common.ReadLines(filename)
 	for _, l := range lines {
 		fields := strings.Fields(l)
 		if len(fields) < 2 {
diff --git a/net/net_linux.go b/net/net_linux.go
index 9184439..73b2bee 100644
--- a/net/net_linux.go
+++ b/net/net_linux.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import (
 // every network interface installed on the system is returned
 // separately.
 func NetIOCounters(pernic bool) ([]NetIOCountersStat, error) {
-	filename := "/proc/net/dev"
+	filename := common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc") + "/net/dev"
 	lines, err := common.ReadLines(filename)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/process/process_linux.go b/process/process_linux.go
index 692329f..0d3a397 100644
--- a/process/process_linux.go
+++ b/process/process_linux.go
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ func (p *Process) IsRunning() (bool, error) {
 func (p *Process) MemoryMaps(grouped bool) (*[]MemoryMapsStat, error) {
 	pid := p.Pid
 	var ret []MemoryMapsStat
-	smapsPath := filepath.Join("/", "proc", strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "smaps")
+	smapsPath := filepath.Join(common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc"), strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "smaps")
 	contents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(smapsPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ func (p *Process) MemoryMaps(grouped bool) (*[]MemoryMapsStat, error) {
 // Get num_fds from /proc/(pid)/fd
 func (p *Process) fillFromfd() (int32, []*OpenFilesStat, error) {
 	pid := p.Pid
-	statPath := filepath.Join("/", "proc", strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "fd")
+	statPath := filepath.Join(common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc"), strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "fd")
 	d, err := os.Open(statPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, nil, err
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ func (p *Process) fillFromfd() (int32, []*OpenFilesStat, error) {
 // Get cwd from /proc/(pid)/cwd
 func (p *Process) fillFromCwd() (string, error) {
 	pid := p.Pid
-	cwdPath := filepath.Join("/", "proc", strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "cwd")
+	cwdPath := filepath.Join(common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc"), strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "cwd")
 	cwd, err := os.Readlink(cwdPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ func (p *Process) fillFromCwd() (string, error) {
 // Get exe from /proc/(pid)/exe
 func (p *Process) fillFromExe() (string, error) {
 	pid := p.Pid
-	exePath := filepath.Join("/", "proc", strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "exe")
+	exePath := filepath.Join(common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc"), strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "exe")
 	exe, err := os.Readlink(exePath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ func (p *Process) fillFromExe() (string, error) {
 // Get cmdline from /proc/(pid)/cmdline
 func (p *Process) fillFromCmdline() (string, error) {
 	pid := p.Pid
-	cmdPath := filepath.Join("/", "proc", strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "cmdline")
+	cmdPath := filepath.Join(common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc"), strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "cmdline")
 	cmdline, err := ioutil.ReadFile(cmdPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ func (p *Process) fillFromCmdline() (string, error) {
 // Get IO status from /proc/(pid)/io
 func (p *Process) fillFromIO() (*IOCountersStat, error) {
 	pid := p.Pid
-	ioPath := filepath.Join("/", "proc", strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "io")
+	ioPath := filepath.Join(common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc"), strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "io")
 	ioline, err := ioutil.ReadFile(ioPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ func (p *Process) fillFromIO() (*IOCountersStat, error) {
 // Get memory info from /proc/(pid)/statm
 func (p *Process) fillFromStatm() (*MemoryInfoStat, *MemoryInfoExStat, error) {
 	pid := p.Pid
-	memPath := filepath.Join("/", "proc", strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "statm")
+	memPath := filepath.Join(common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc"), strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "statm")
 	contents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(memPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, err
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ func (p *Process) fillFromStatm() (*MemoryInfoStat, *MemoryInfoExStat, error) {
 // Get various status from /proc/(pid)/status
 func (p *Process) fillFromStatus() error {
 	pid := p.Pid
-	statPath := filepath.Join("/", "proc", strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "status")
+	statPath := filepath.Join(common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc"), strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "status")
 	contents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(statPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ func (p *Process) fillFromStatus() error {
 
 func (p *Process) fillFromStat() (string, int32, *cpu.CPUTimesStat, int64, int32, error) {
 	pid := p.Pid
-	statPath := filepath.Join("/", "proc", strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "stat")
+	statPath := filepath.Join(common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc"), strconv.Itoa(int(pid)), "stat")
 	contents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(statPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", 0, nil, 0, 0, err
@@ -610,7 +610,7 @@ func (p *Process) fillFromStat() (string, int32, *cpu.CPUTimesStat, int64, int32
 func Pids() ([]int32, error) {
 	var ret []int32
 
-	d, err := os.Open("/proc")
+	d, err := os.Open(common.GetEnv("HOST_PROC", "/proc"))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}