diff --git a/bin/compute-classpath.sh b/bin/compute-classpath.sh
index 6bbc2da4cb..8c02f4df9a 100755
--- a/bin/compute-classpath.sh
+++ b/bin/compute-classpath.sh
@@ -55,5 +55,8 @@ fi
 if [ -n "$HBASE_CONF_DIR" ]; then
   CLASSPATH="$CLASSPATH:$HBASE_CONF_DIR"
 fi
+if [ -n "$ES_CONF_DIR" ]; then
+  CLASSPATH="$CLASSPATH:$ES_CONF_DIR"
+fi
 
 echo "$CLASSPATH"
diff --git a/conf/pio-env.sh.template b/conf/pio-env.sh.template
index afb597f588..ca109572fe 100644
--- a/conf/pio-env.sh.template
+++ b/conf/pio-env.sh.template
@@ -10,8 +10,13 @@
 # SPARK_HOME: Apache Spark is a hard dependency and must be configured.
 SPARK_HOME=/path_to_apache_spark
 
+# ES_CONF_DIR: You must configure this if you have advanced configuration for
+#              your Elasticsearch setup.
+# ES_CONF_DIR=/opt/elasticsearch
+
 # HADOOP_CONF_DIR: You must configure this if you intend to run PredictionIO
 #                  with Hadoop 2.
+# HADOOP_CONF_DIR=/opt/hadoop
 
 # HBASE_CONF_DIR: You must configure this if you intend to run PredictionIO
 #                 with HBase on a remote cluster.
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/workflow/WorkflowUtils.scala b/core/src/main/scala/workflow/WorkflowUtils.scala
index db5c16b17f..6dabbcb9b3 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/workflow/WorkflowUtils.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/workflow/WorkflowUtils.scala
@@ -165,23 +165,31 @@ object WorkflowUtils extends Logging {
     s
   }
 
-  /** Detect available Hadoop ecosystem configuration files to be submitted as
+  /** Detect third party software configuration files to be submitted as
     * extras to Apache Spark. This makes sure all executors receive the same
     * configuration.
     */
-  def hadoopEcoConfFiles: Seq[String] = {
-    val ecoFiles = Map(
+  def thirdPartyConfFiles: Seq[String] = {
+    val thirdPartyFiles = Map(
+      "ES_CONF_DIR" -> "elasticsearch.yml",
       "HADOOP_CONF_DIR" -> "core-site.xml",
       "HBASE_CONF_DIR" -> "hbase-site.xml")
 
-    ecoFiles.keys.toSeq.map { k: String =>
+    thirdPartyFiles.keys.toSeq.map { k: String =>
       sys.env.get(k) map { x =>
-        val p = Seq(x, ecoFiles(k)).mkString(File.separator)
+        val p = Seq(x, thirdPartyFiles(k)).mkString(File.separator)
         if (new File(p).exists) Seq(p) else Seq[String]()
       } getOrElse Seq[String]()
     }.flatten
   }
 
+  def thirdPartyClasspaths: Seq[String] = {
+    val thirdPartyPaths = Seq("ES_CONF_DIR")
+    thirdPartyPaths.map(p =>
+      sys.env.get(p).map(Seq(_)).getOrElse(Seq[String]())
+    ).flatten
+  }
+
   def setupLogging(verbose: Boolean, debug: Boolean): Unit = {
     val layout = new PatternLayout("%d %-5p %c{2} - %m%n")
     val filter = new PIOFilter(verbose, debug)
diff --git a/tools/src/main/scala/Console.scala b/tools/src/main/scala/Console.scala
index 57943e61fa..4cb4b151f7 100644
--- a/tools/src/main/scala/Console.scala
+++ b/tools/src/main/scala/Console.scala
@@ -954,7 +954,7 @@ object Console extends Logging {
   def run(ca: ConsoleArgs): Unit = {
     compile(ca)
 
-    val extraFiles = WorkflowUtils.hadoopEcoConfFiles
+    val extraFiles = WorkflowUtils.thirdPartyConfFiles
 
     val jarFiles = jarFilesForScala
     jarFiles foreach { f => info(s"Found JAR: ${f.getName}") }
diff --git a/tools/src/main/scala/RunServer.scala b/tools/src/main/scala/RunServer.scala
index 637f1acbc9..6c9508c1b9 100644
--- a/tools/src/main/scala/RunServer.scala
+++ b/tools/src/main/scala/RunServer.scala
@@ -37,7 +37,17 @@ object RunServer extends Logging {
     val sparkHome = ca.common.sparkHome.getOrElse(
       sys.env.get("SPARK_HOME").getOrElse("."))
 
-    val extraFiles = WorkflowUtils.hadoopEcoConfFiles
+    val extraFiles = WorkflowUtils.thirdPartyConfFiles
+
+    val driverClassPathIndex =
+      ca.common.sparkPassThrough.indexOf("--driver-class-path")
+    val driverClassPathPrefix =
+      if (driverClassPathIndex != -1)
+        Seq(ca.common.sparkPassThrough(driverClassPathIndex + 1))
+      else
+        Seq()
+    val extraClasspaths =
+      driverClassPathPrefix ++ WorkflowUtils.thirdPartyClasspaths
 
     val sparkSubmit =
       Seq(Seq(sparkHome, "bin", "spark-submit").mkString(File.separator)) ++
@@ -50,7 +60,14 @@ object RunServer extends Logging {
         "--jars",
         (em.files ++ Console.builtinEngines(
           ca.common.pioHome.get).map(_.getCanonicalPath)).mkString(",")) ++
-      (if (extraFiles.size > 0) Seq("--files") ++ extraFiles else Seq()) ++
+      (if (extraFiles.size > 0)
+        Seq("--files", extraFiles.mkString(","))
+      else
+        Seq()) ++
+      (if (extraClasspaths.size > 0)
+        Seq("--driver-class-path", extraClasspaths.mkString(":"))
+      else
+        Seq()) ++
       Seq(
         core.getCanonicalPath,
         "--engineInstanceId",
diff --git a/tools/src/main/scala/RunWorkflow.scala b/tools/src/main/scala/RunWorkflow.scala
index 99677f63b7..170bd3b70a 100644
--- a/tools/src/main/scala/RunWorkflow.scala
+++ b/tools/src/main/scala/RunWorkflow.scala
@@ -51,7 +51,17 @@ object RunWorkflow extends Logging {
     val hadoopConf = new Configuration
     val hdfs = FileSystem.get(hadoopConf)
 
-    val extraFiles = WorkflowUtils.hadoopEcoConfFiles
+    val extraFiles = WorkflowUtils.thirdPartyConfFiles
+
+    val driverClassPathIndex =
+      ca.common.sparkPassThrough.indexOf("--driver-class-path")
+    val driverClassPathPrefix =
+      if (driverClassPathIndex != -1)
+        Seq(ca.common.sparkPassThrough(driverClassPathIndex + 1))
+      else
+        Seq()
+    val extraClasspaths =
+      driverClassPathPrefix ++ WorkflowUtils.thirdPartyClasspaths
 
     val workMode = ca.metricsClass.map(_ => "Evaluation").getOrElse("Training")
     val sparkSubmit =
@@ -65,7 +75,14 @@ object RunWorkflow extends Logging {
         "--jars",
         (em.files ++ Console.builtinEngines(
           ca.common.pioHome.get).map(_.getCanonicalPath)).mkString(",")) ++
-      (if (extraFiles.size > 0) Seq("--files") ++ extraFiles else Seq()) ++
+      (if (extraFiles.size > 0)
+        Seq("--files", extraFiles.mkString(","))
+      else
+        Seq()) ++
+      (if (extraClasspaths.size > 0)
+        Seq("--driver-class-path", extraClasspaths.mkString(":"))
+      else
+        Seq()) ++
       Seq(
         core.getCanonicalPath,
         "--env",