diff --git a/presubmit_canned_checks.py b/presubmit_canned_checks.py
index a35cf59f2c..9179fb6ee3 100644
--- a/presubmit_canned_checks.py
+++ b/presubmit_canned_checks.py
@@ -714,7 +714,7 @@ def _FetchAllFiles(input_api, white_list, black_list):
 
 
 def GetPylint(input_api, output_api, white_list=None, black_list=None,
-              disabled_warnings=None, extra_paths_list=None):
+              disabled_warnings=None, extra_paths_list=None, pylintrc=None):
   """Run pylint on python files.
 
   The default white_list enforces looking only at *.py files.
@@ -749,7 +749,11 @@ def GetPylint(input_api, output_api, white_list=None, black_list=None,
     input_api.logging.info('Skipping pylint: no matching changes.')
     return []
 
-  extra_args = ['--rcfile=%s' % input_api.os_path.join(_HERE, 'pylintrc')]
+  if pylintrc is not None:
+    pylintrc = input_api.os_path.join(input_api.PresubmitLocalPath(), pylintrc)
+  else:
+    pylintrc = input_api.os_path.join(_HERE, 'pylintrc')
+  extra_args = ['--rcfile=%s' % pylintrc]
   if disabled_warnings:
     extra_args.extend(['-d', ','.join(disabled_warnings)])