diff --git a/plugins/ipam/host-local/backend/disk/backend.go b/plugins/ipam/host-local/backend/disk/backend.go
index ab4ddb4e..14dd40d6 100644
--- a/plugins/ipam/host-local/backend/disk/backend.go
+++ b/plugins/ipam/host-local/backend/disk/backend.go
@@ -31,8 +31,11 @@ type Store struct {
 	dataDir string
 }
 
-func New(network string) (*Store, error) {
-	dir := filepath.Join(defaultDataDir, network)
+func New(network, dataDir string) (*Store, error) {
+	if dataDir == "" {
+		dataDir = defaultDataDir
+	}
+	dir := filepath.Join(dataDir, network)
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0644); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/plugins/ipam/host-local/config.go b/plugins/ipam/host-local/config.go
index faef3360..7c01a8cd 100644
--- a/plugins/ipam/host-local/config.go
+++ b/plugins/ipam/host-local/config.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ type IPAMConfig struct {
 	Subnet     types.IPNet   `json:"subnet"`
 	Gateway    net.IP        `json:"gateway"`
 	Routes     []types.Route `json:"routes"`
+	DataDir    string        `json:"dataDir"`
 	Args       *IPAMArgs     `json:"-"`
 }
 
diff --git a/plugins/ipam/host-local/host_local_test.go b/plugins/ipam/host-local/host_local_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..41dba71c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/ipam/host-local/host_local_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+// Copyright 2016 CNI authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"net"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	"github.com/containernetworking/cni/pkg/skel"
+	"github.com/containernetworking/cni/pkg/testutils"
+	"github.com/containernetworking/cni/pkg/types"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("host-local Operations", func() {
+	It("allocates and releases an address with ADD/DEL", func() {
+		const ifname string = "eth0"
+		const nspath string = "/some/where"
+
+		tmpDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "host_local_artifacts")
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		defer os.RemoveAll(tmpDir)
+
+		conf := fmt.Sprintf(`{
+    "cniVersion": "0.2.0",
+    "name": "mynet",
+    "type": "ipvlan",
+    "master": "foo0",
+    "ipam": {
+        "type": "host-local",
+        "subnet": "10.1.2.0/24",
+        "dataDir": "%s"
+    }
+}`, tmpDir)
+
+		args := &skel.CmdArgs{
+			ContainerID: "dummy",
+			Netns:       nspath,
+			IfName:      ifname,
+			StdinData:   []byte(conf),
+		}
+
+		// Allocate the IP
+		result, err := testutils.CmdAddWithResult(nspath, ifname, func() error {
+			return cmdAdd(args)
+		})
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
+		expectedAddress, err := types.ParseCIDR("10.1.2.2/24")
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		expectedAddress.IP = expectedAddress.IP.To16()
+		Expect(result.IP4.IP).To(Equal(*expectedAddress))
+
+		Expect(result.IP4.Gateway).To(Equal(net.ParseIP("10.1.2.1")))
+
+		ipFilePath := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "mynet", "10.1.2.2")
+		contents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(ipFilePath)
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(string(contents)).To(Equal("dummy"))
+
+		lastFilePath := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "mynet", "last_reserved_ip")
+		contents, err = ioutil.ReadFile(lastFilePath)
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(string(contents)).To(Equal("10.1.2.2"))
+
+		// Release the IP
+		err = testutils.CmdDelWithResult(nspath, ifname, func() error {
+			return cmdDel(args)
+		})
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
+		_, err = os.Stat(ipFilePath)
+		Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+	})
+})
diff --git a/plugins/ipam/host-local/main.go b/plugins/ipam/host-local/main.go
index 0e1b0639..19a31802 100644
--- a/plugins/ipam/host-local/main.go
+++ b/plugins/ipam/host-local/main.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func cmdAdd(args *skel.CmdArgs) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	store, err := disk.New(ipamConf.Name)
+	store, err := disk.New(ipamConf.Name, ipamConf.DataDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ func cmdDel(args *skel.CmdArgs) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	store, err := disk.New(ipamConf.Name)
+	store, err := disk.New(ipamConf.Name, ipamConf.DataDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}