diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 882e104..9ef49eb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ app.listen(port);
 
 ## Advanced Usage
 
-Many aspects of the explorer are configurable. 
+Many aspects of the explorer are configurable.
 
 See [options](#options) for a description of these options:
 
@@ -34,7 +34,10 @@ See [options](#options) for a description of these options:
 app.use('/explorer', loopback.basicAuth('user', 'password'));
 app.use('/explorer', explorer(app, {
   basePath: '/custom-api-root',
-  swaggerDistRoot: '/swagger',
+  uiDirs: [
+    path.resolve(__dirname, 'public'),
+    path.resolve(__dirname, 'node_modules', 'swagger-ui')
+  ]
   apiInfo: {
     'title': 'My API',
     'description': 'Explorer example app.'
@@ -67,27 +70,27 @@ Options are passed to `explorer(app, options)`.
 > and thus needs to report its endpoints as `https`, even though incoming traffic is auto-detected
 > as `http`.
 
-`swaggerDistRoot`: **String** 
+`uiDirs`: **Array of Strings**
 
-> Sets a path within your application for overriding Swagger UI files.
+> Sets a list of paths within your application for overriding Swagger UI files.
 
-> If present, will search `swaggerDistRoot` first when attempting to load Swagger UI, allowing
-> you to pick and choose overrides to the interface. Use this to style your explorer or
-> add additional functionality.
+> If present, will search `uiDirs` first when attempting to load Swagger UI,
+> allowing you to pick and choose overrides to the interface. Use this to
+> style your explorer or add additional functionality.
 
 > See [index.html](public/index.html), where you may want to begin your overrides.
 > The rest of the UI is provided by [Swagger UI](https://github.com/wordnik/swagger-ui).
 
 `apiInfo`: **Object**
 
-> Additional information about your API. See the 
+> Additional information about your API. See the
 > [spec](https://github.com/wordnik/swagger-spec/blob/master/versions/1.2.md#513-info-object).
 
 `resourcePath`: **String**
 
 > Default: `'resources'`
 
-> Sets a different path for the 
+> Sets a different path for the
 > [resource listing](https://github.com/wordnik/swagger-spec/blob/master/versions/1.2.md#51-resource-listing).
 > You generally shouldn't have to change this.
 
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 6c5e003..e34a778 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -47,15 +47,25 @@ function explorer(loopbackApplication, options) {
     });
   });
 
-  // Allow specifying a static file root for swagger files. Any files in 
-  // that folder will override those in the swagger-ui distribution. 
-  // In this way one could e.g. make changes to index.html without having 
+  // Allow specifying a static file roots for swagger files. Any files in
+  // these folders will override those in the swagger-ui distribution.
+  // In this way one could e.g. make changes to index.html without having
   // to worry about constantly pulling in JS updates.
+  if (options.uiDirs) {
+    options.uiDirs.forEach(function(dir) {
+     app.use(express.static(dir));
+    });
+  }
+
   if (options.swaggerDistRoot) {
+    console.warn('loopback-explorer: `swaggerDistRoot` is deprecated,' +
+      ' use `uiDirs` instead');
     app.use(express.static(options.swaggerDistRoot));
   }
+
   // File in node_modules are overridden by a few customizations
   app.use(express.static(STATIC_ROOT));
+
   // Swagger UI distribution
   app.use(express.static(SWAGGER_UI_ROOT));
 
diff --git a/test/explorer.test.js b/test/explorer.test.js
index e53c4d9..ce900aa 100644
--- a/test/explorer.test.js
+++ b/test/explorer.test.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ var loopback = require('loopback');
 var explorer = require('../');
 var request = require('supertest');
 var assert = require('assert');
+var path = require('path');
 var expect = require('chai').expect;
 
 describe('explorer', function() {
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ describe('explorer', function() {
         .end(function(err, res) {
           if (err) throw err;
 
-          assert(!!~res.text.indexOf('<title>StrongLoop API Explorer</title>'), 
+          assert(!!~res.text.indexOf('<title>StrongLoop API Explorer</title>'),
             'text does not contain expected string');
           done();
         });
@@ -79,6 +80,32 @@ describe('explorer', function() {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('with custom front-end files', function() {
+    var app;
+    beforeEach(function setupExplorerWithUiDirs() {
+      app = loopback();
+      app.use('/explorer', explorer(app, {
+        uiDirs: [ path.resolve(__dirname, 'fixtures', 'dummy-swagger-ui') ]
+      }));
+    });
+
+    it('overrides swagger-ui files', function(done) {
+      request(app).get('/explorer/swagger-ui.js')
+        .expect(200)
+        // expect the content of `dummy-swagger-ui/swagger-ui.js`
+        .expect('/* custom swagger-ui file */\n')
+        .end(done);
+    });
+
+    it('overrides strongloop overrides', function(done) {
+      request(app).get('/explorer/')
+        .expect(200)
+        // expect the content of `dummy-swagger-ui/index.html`
+        .expect('custom index.html\n')
+        .end(done);
+    });
+  });
+
   function givenLoopBackAppWithExplorer(explorerBase) {
     return function(done) {
       var app = this.app = loopback();
diff --git a/test/fixtures/dummy-swagger-ui/index.html b/test/fixtures/dummy-swagger-ui/index.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f6c3a1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/dummy-swagger-ui/index.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+custom index.html
diff --git a/test/fixtures/dummy-swagger-ui/swagger-ui.js b/test/fixtures/dummy-swagger-ui/swagger-ui.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..55f593f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/dummy-swagger-ui/swagger-ui.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/* custom swagger-ui file */