diff --git a/cmd/controller-gen/main.go b/cmd/controller-gen/main.go
index d224edd1a..74c29d21d 100644
--- a/cmd/controller-gen/main.go
+++ b/cmd/controller-gen/main.go
@@ -114,6 +114,8 @@ Usage:
 	f.StringVar(&g.Domain, "domain", "", "domain of the resources, will try to fetch it from PROJECT file if not specified")
 	f.StringVar(&g.Namespace, "namespace", "", "CRD namespace, treat it as cluster scoped if not set")
 	f.BoolVar(&g.SkipMapValidation, "skip-map-validation", true, "if set to true, skip generating OpenAPI validation schema for map type in CRD.")
+	f.StringVar(&g.APIsPath, "apis-path", "pkg/apis", "the path to search for apis relative to the current directory")
+	f.StringVar(&g.APIsPkg, "apis-pkg", "", "the absolute Go pkg name for current project's api pkg.")
 
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/cmd/crd/cmd/generate.go b/cmd/crd/cmd/generate.go
index ed4b90136..32c9ade73 100644
--- a/cmd/crd/cmd/generate.go
+++ b/cmd/crd/cmd/generate.go
@@ -66,5 +66,7 @@ func GeneratorForFlags(f *flag.FlagSet) *crdgenerator.Generator {
 	// TODO: Do we need this? Is there a possibility that a crd is namespace scoped?
 	f.StringVar(&g.Namespace, "namespace", "", "CRD namespace, treat it as root scoped if not set")
 	f.BoolVar(&g.SkipMapValidation, "skip-map-validation", true, "if set to true, skip generating validation schema for map type in CRD.")
+	f.StringVar(&g.APIsPath, "apis-path", "pkg/apis", "the path to search for apis relative to the current directory")
+	f.StringVar(&g.APIsPkg, "apis-pkg", "", "the absolute Go pkg name for current project's api pkg.")
 	return g
 }
diff --git a/pkg/crd/generator/generator.go b/pkg/crd/generator/generator.go
index 512311873..dfbf15278 100644
--- a/pkg/crd/generator/generator.go
+++ b/pkg/crd/generator/generator.go
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ type Generator struct {
 	// apisPkg is the absolute Go pkg name for current project's 'pkg/apis' pkg.
 	// This is needed to determine if a Type belongs to the project or it is a referred Type.
 	apisPkg string
+
+	// APIsPath and APIsPkg allow customized generation for Go types existing under directories other than pkg/apis
+	APIsPath string
+	APIsPkg  string
 }
 
 // ValidateAndInitFields validate and init generator fields.
@@ -80,13 +84,7 @@ func (c *Generator) ValidateAndInitFields() error {
 		c.Domain = crdutil.GetDomainFromProject(c.RootPath)
 	}
 
-	// Validate apis directory exists under working path
-	apisPath := path.Join(c.RootPath, "pkg/apis")
-	if _, err := os.Stat(apisPath); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("error validating apis path %s: %v", apisPath, err)
-	}
-
-	c.apisPkg, err = crdutil.DirToGoPkg(apisPath)
+	err = c.setAPIsPkg()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -112,7 +110,7 @@ func (c *Generator) Do() error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed switching working dir: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	if err := b.AddDirRecursive("./pkg/apis"); err != nil {
+	if err := b.AddDirRecursive("./" + c.APIsPath); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed making a parser: %v", err)
 	}
 	ctx, err := parse.NewContext(b)
@@ -185,3 +183,25 @@ func (c *Generator) getCrds(p *parse.APIs) map[string][]byte {
 func (c *Generator) belongsToAPIsPkg(t *types.Type) bool {
 	return strings.HasPrefix(t.Name.Package, c.apisPkg)
 }
+
+func (c *Generator) setAPIsPkg() error {
+	var err error
+	if c.APIsPath == "" {
+		c.APIsPath = "pkg/apis"
+	}
+
+	c.apisPkg = c.APIsPkg
+	if c.apisPkg == "" {
+		// Validate apis directory exists under working path
+		apisPath := path.Join(c.RootPath, c.APIsPath)
+		if _, err := os.Stat(apisPath); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("error validating apis path %s: %v", apisPath, err)
+		}
+
+		c.apisPkg, err = crdutil.DirToGoPkg(apisPath)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}