diff --git a/docs/static/config-details.asciidoc b/docs/static/config-details.asciidoc
index 835edcbf3..af0bd396a 100644
--- a/docs/static/config-details.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/static/config-details.asciidoc
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 [[jvm-settings]]
 === JVM settings
 
-Configure the jvm settings in the `jvm.options` <<settings-files,settings file>>.
+Configure JVM settings in the `jvm.options` <<settings-files,settings file>>. JVM settings can also be set via the <<ls-java-opts, `LS_JAVA_OPTS`>> environment variable.
+
 This file contains a line-delimited list of JVM arguments following a special syntax:
 
 * lines consisting of whitespace only are ignored
@@ -100,6 +101,18 @@ java -XX:+PrintFlagsFinal -version | grep ThreadStackSize
 Depending on the default stack size, start by multiplying by 4x, then 8x, and
 then 16x until the overflow error resolves.
 
+[[ls-java-opts]]
+==== Using `LS_JAVA_OPTS`
+
+The `LS_JAVA_OPTS` environment variable can also be used to override JVM settings in the `jvm.options` file <<settings-files,settings file>>.
+The content of this variable is additive to options configured in the `jvm.options` file, and will override any settings that exist in both places.
+
+For example to set a different locale to launch {ls} instance:
+
+[source,sh]
+-----
+LS_JAVA_OPTS="-Duser.country=DE -Duser.language=de" bin/logstash -e 'input { stdin { codec => json } }'
+-----