diff --git a/docs/emcc.txt b/docs/emcc.txt
index 844b274a6ceef..4c122f2f4fc93 100644
--- a/docs/emcc.txt
+++ b/docs/emcc.txt
@@ -635,6 +635,8 @@ Environment variables
 
    * "EMCC_SKIP_SANITY_CHECK" [general]
 
+   * "EMCC_SUPPORT_BIG_ENDIAN" [general]
+
    * "EM_IGNORE_SANITY" [general]
 
    * "EM_CONFIG" [general]
diff --git a/src/settings.js b/src/settings.js
index b63ff2fa86acd..6115d04dd133c 100644
--- a/src/settings.js
+++ b/src/settings.js
@@ -293,12 +293,6 @@ var DECLARE_ASM_MODULE_EXPORTS = true;
 // [compile]
 var INLINING_LIMIT = false;
 
-// If set to 1, perform acorn pass that converts each HEAP access into a
-// function call that uses DataView to enforce LE byte order for HEAP buffer;
-// This makes generated JavaScript run on BE as well as LE machines. (If 0, only
-// LE systems are supported). Does not affect generated wasm.
-var SUPPORT_BIG_ENDIAN = false;
-
 // Check each write to the heap, for example, this will give a clear
 // error on what would be segfaults in a native build (like dereferencing
 // 0). See runtime_safe_heap.js for the actual checks performed.
diff --git a/tools/settings.py b/tools/settings.py
index 9c8480811161f..6a056eaa8ed51 100644
--- a/tools/settings.py
+++ b/tools/settings.py
@@ -122,6 +122,15 @@ def read_js_settings(filename, attrs):
     if 'EMCC_STRICT' in os.environ:
       self.attrs['STRICT'] = int(os.environ.get('EMCC_STRICT'))
 
+    # If set, perform acorn pass that converts each HEAP access into a function
+    # call that uses DataView to enforce LE byte order for HEAP buffer; This
+    # makes generated JavaScript run on BE as well as LE machines. (If 0, only
+    # LE systems are supported). Does not affect generated wasm.
+    if 'EMCC_SUPPORT_BIG_ENDIAN' in os.environ:
+      self.attrs['SUPPORT_BIG_ENDIAN'] = int(os.environ.get('EMCC_SUPPORT_BIG_ENDIAN'))
+    else:
+      self.attrs['SUPPORT_BIG_ENDIAN'] = 0
+
     # Special handling for LEGACY_SETTINGS.  See src/setting.js for more
     # details
     for legacy in self.attrs['LEGACY_SETTINGS']: