diff --git a/bin/nyc.js b/bin/nyc.js
index 5536c2741..2e7ef69b8 100755
--- a/bin/nyc.js
+++ b/bin/nyc.js
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ var yargs = require('yargs')
         describe: 'coverage reporter(s) to use',
         default: 'text'
       })
+      .option('report-dir', {
+        describe: 'default directory to output coverage reports in',
+        default: 'coverage'
+      })
       .help('h')
       .alias('h', 'help')
       .example('$0 report --reporter=lcov', 'output an HTML lcov report to ./coverage')
@@ -57,6 +61,10 @@ var yargs = require('yargs')
     describe: 'coverage reporter(s) to use',
     default: 'text'
   })
+  .option('report-dir', {
+    describe: 'default directory to output coverage reports in',
+    default: 'coverage'
+  })
   .option('s', {
     alias: 'silent',
     default: false,
@@ -154,7 +162,8 @@ function report (argv) {
   process.env.NYC_CWD = process.cwd()
 
   ;(new NYC({
-    reporter: argv.reporter
+    reporter: argv.reporter,
+    reportDir: argv.reportDir
   })).report()
 }
 
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 37cb209f6..57b3c647a 100755
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ function NYC (opts) {
   this._istanbul = opts.istanbul
   this.subprocessBin = opts.subprocessBin || path.resolve(__dirname, './bin/nyc.js')
   this._tempDirectory = opts.tempDirectory || './.nyc_output'
+  this._reportDir = opts.reportDir
 
   var config = this._loadConfig(opts)
   this.cwd = config.cwd
@@ -298,7 +299,7 @@ NYC.prototype.report = function (cb, _collector, _reporter) {
 
   var istanbul = this.istanbul()
   var collector = _collector || new istanbul.Collector()
-  var reporter = _reporter || new istanbul.Reporter()
+  var reporter = _reporter || new istanbul.Reporter(null, this._reportDir)
 
   this._loadReports().forEach(function (report) {
     collector.add(report)
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 08cac0837..c3a563375 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@
     "any-path": "^1.3.0",
     "chai": "^3.0.0",
     "coveralls": "^2.11.4",
+    "exists-sync": "0.0.3",
     "forking-tap": "^0.1.1",
     "is-windows": "^0.1.0",
     "lodash": "^3.10.0",
diff --git a/test/src/nyc-test.js b/test/src/nyc-test.js
index d4bc1a1b3..be63f3631 100644
--- a/test/src/nyc-test.js
+++ b/test/src/nyc-test.js
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ function NYC (opts) {
 }
 
 var path = require('path')
+var existsSync = require('exists-sync')
 var rimraf = require('rimraf')
 var sinon = require('sinon')
 var isWindows = require('is-windows')()
@@ -350,6 +351,29 @@ describe('nyc', function () {
         )
       })
     })
+
+    it('allows coverage report to be output in an alternative directory', function (done) {
+      var reporters = ['lcov']
+      var nyc = new NYC({
+        cwd: process.cwd(),
+        reporter: reporters,
+        reportDir: './alternative-report'
+      })
+      nyc.reset()
+
+      var proc = spawn(process.execPath, ['./test/fixtures/child-1.js'], {
+        cwd: process.cwd(),
+        env: process.env,
+        stdio: 'inherit'
+      })
+
+      proc.on('close', function () {
+        nyc.report()
+        existsSync('./alternative-report/lcov.info').should.equal(true)
+        rimraf.sync('./alternative-report')
+        return done()
+      })
+    })
   })
 
   describe('.istanbul.yml configuration', function () {