diff --git a/opf/_common/checkpoint_download.py b/opf/_common/checkpoint_download.py
index 743f889..ace1968 100644
--- a/opf/_common/checkpoint_download.py
+++ b/opf/_common/checkpoint_download.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import os
 from pathlib import Path
 import shutil
 import sys
@@ -9,6 +10,8 @@
 
 
 DEFAULT_HF_MODEL_REPO: Final[str] = "openai/privacy-filter"
+DEFAULT_HF_MODEL_REVISION: Final[str | None] = None
+HF_MODEL_REVISION_ENV_VAR: Final[str] = "OPF_HF_REVISION"
 
 
 def _checkpoint_override_message() -> str:
@@ -104,17 +107,20 @@ def ensure_default_checkpoint() -> str:
             f"{_checkpoint_override_message()}."
         ) from exc
 
+    revision = os.environ.get(HF_MODEL_REVISION_ENV_VAR) or DEFAULT_HF_MODEL_REVISION
     try:
+        revision_suffix = f" (revision={revision!r})" if revision else ""
         print(
             "Default OPF checkpoint not found at "
             f"{target}. Downloading from HuggingFace repo "
-            f"{DEFAULT_HF_MODEL_REPO!r} to {target}.",
+            f"{DEFAULT_HF_MODEL_REPO!r}{revision_suffix} to {target}.",
             file=sys.stderr,
             flush=True,
         )
         try:
             snapshot_download(
                 repo_id=DEFAULT_HF_MODEL_REPO,
+                revision=revision,
                 local_dir=str(target),
                 tqdm_class=_build_download_progress_class(),
                 allow_patterns=["original/*"],