diff --git a/builder/Dockerfile.debian-9 b/builder/Dockerfile.debian-9
index ee81ede..57ce5a7 100644
--- a/builder/Dockerfile.debian-9
+++ b/builder/Dockerfile.debian-9
@@ -13,5 +13,8 @@ RUN pip install awscli
 
 RUN chmod 0777 /opt
 
+# Override the default pager used by R
+ENV PAGER /usr/bin/pager
+
 COPY build.sh .
 ENTRYPOINT ./build.sh
diff --git a/builder/Dockerfile.ubuntu-1604 b/builder/Dockerfile.ubuntu-1604
index 4f0e410..3c88ba1 100644
--- a/builder/Dockerfile.ubuntu-1604
+++ b/builder/Dockerfile.ubuntu-1604
@@ -13,5 +13,8 @@ RUN pip install awscli
 
 RUN chmod 0777 /opt
 
+# Override the default pager used by R
+ENV PAGER /usr/bin/pager
+
 COPY build.sh .
 ENTRYPOINT ./build.sh
diff --git a/builder/Dockerfile.ubuntu-1804 b/builder/Dockerfile.ubuntu-1804
index 8d9039c..2bb5ca9 100644
--- a/builder/Dockerfile.ubuntu-1804
+++ b/builder/Dockerfile.ubuntu-1804
@@ -13,5 +13,8 @@ RUN pip install awscli
 
 RUN chmod 0777 /opt
 
+# Override the default pager used by R
+ENV PAGER /usr/bin/pager
+
 COPY build.sh .
 ENTRYPOINT ./build.sh
diff --git a/builder/build.sh b/builder/build.sh
index c53f5fc..123d6e5 100755
--- a/builder/build.sh
+++ b/builder/build.sh
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ compile_r() {
   # set some common environment variables for the configure step
   AWK=/usr/bin/awk \
   LIBnn=lib \
-  PAGER=/usr/bin/pager \
   PERL=/usr/bin/perl \
   R_PDFVIEWER=xdg-open \
   R_BROWSER=xdg-open \