diff --git a/examples/mlperf/model_train.py b/examples/mlperf/model_train.py
index dc2d2b3356..a89ef4ea32 100644
--- a/examples/mlperf/model_train.py
+++ b/examples/mlperf/model_train.py
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ def train_bert():
   train_steps        = config["TRAIN_STEPS"]            = getenv("TRAIN_STEPS", 4800000 // BS)
   warmup_steps       = config["NUM_WARMUP_STEPS"]       = getenv("NUM_WARMUP_STEPS", train_steps // 10)
   max_eval_steps     = config["MAX_EVAL_STEPS"]         = getenv("MAX_EVAL_STEPS", (10000 + EVAL_BS - 1) // EVAL_BS) # EVAL_BS * MAX_EVAL_STEPS >= 10000
-  eval_step_freq     = config["EVAL_STEP_FREQ"]         = int((math.floor(0.05 * (230.23 * BS + 3000000) / 25000) * 25000) / BS) # Round down
+  eval_step_freq     = config["EVAL_STEP_FREQ"]         = getenv("EVAL_STEP_FREQ", int((math.floor(0.05 * (230.23 * BS + 3000000) / 25000) * 25000) / BS)) # Round down
   save_ckpt_freq     = config["SAVE_CKPT_FREQ"]         = getenv("SAVE_CKPT_FREQ", 1000)
   keep_ckpt_amount   = config["KEEP_CKPT_AMOUNT"]       = getenv("KEEP_CKPT_AMOUNT", 5)
   init_ckpt          = config["INIT_CKPT_DIR"]          = getenv("INIT_CKPT_DIR", BASEDIR)