diff --git a/bin/interpreter.sh b/bin/interpreter.sh
index 62deba1ff1..6836fe6dcd 100755
--- a/bin/interpreter.sh
+++ b/bin/interpreter.sh
@@ -128,6 +128,14 @@ if [[ "${INTERPRETER_ID}" == "spark" ]]; then
 
     export SPARK_CLASSPATH+=":${ZEPPELIN_CLASSPATH}"
   fi
+elif [[ "${INTERPRETER_ID}" == "hbase" ]]; then
+  if [[ -n "${HBASE_CONF_DIR}" ]]; then
+    ZEPPELIN_CLASSPATH+=":${HBASE_CONF_DIR}"
+  elif [[ -n "${HBASE_HOME}" ]]; then
+    ZEPPELIN_CLASSPATH+=":${HBASE_CONF_DIR}/conf"
+  else
+    echo "HBASE_HOME and HBASE_CONF_DIR are not set, configuration might not be loaded"
+  fi
 fi
 
 addJarInDir "${LOCAL_INTERPRETER_REPO}"
diff --git a/docs/interpreter/hbase.md b/docs/interpreter/hbase.md
index 05031f2d21..a0a7606e6f 100644
--- a/docs/interpreter/hbase.md
+++ b/docs/interpreter/hbase.md
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ To get start with HBase, please see [HBase Quickstart](https://hbase.apache.org/
     <td>Path to Ruby scripts relative to 'hbase.home'</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
-    <td>hbase.test.mode</td>
+    <td>zeppelin.hbase.test.mode</td>
     <td>false</td>
     <td>Disable checks for unit and manual tests</td>
   </tr>
diff --git a/hbase/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/hbase/HbaseInterpreter.java b/hbase/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/hbase/HbaseInterpreter.java
index dbcb33d4d9..197d3300aa 100644
--- a/hbase/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/hbase/HbaseInterpreter.java
+++ b/hbase/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/hbase/HbaseInterpreter.java
@@ -47,11 +47,10 @@ import java.util.Properties;
  * that the client is configured properly.
  *
  * The interpreter takes 3 config parameters:
- * hbase.home: Root dir. where hbase is installed. Default is /usr/lib/hbase/
+ * hbase.home: Root directory where hbase is installed. Default is /usr/lib/hbase/
  * hbase.ruby.sources: Dir where shell ruby code is installed.
  *                          Path is relative to hbase.home. Default: lib/ruby
- * hbase.irb.load: (Testing only) Default is true.
- *                      Whether to load irb in the interpreter.
+ * zeppelin.hbase.test.mode: (Testing only) Disable checks for unit and manual tests. Default: false
  */
 public class HbaseInterpreter extends Interpreter {
   private Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(HbaseInterpreter.class);
@@ -62,11 +61,13 @@ public class HbaseInterpreter extends Interpreter {
   static {
     Interpreter.register("hbase", "hbase", HbaseInterpreter.class.getName(),
         new InterpreterPropertyBuilder()
-            .add("hbase.home", "/usr/lib/hbase/", "Installation dir. of Hbase")
+            .add("hbase.home",
+              getSystemDefault("HBASE_HOME", "hbase.home", "/usr/lib/hbase/"),
+              "Installation directory of Hbase")
             .add("hbase.ruby.sources", "lib/ruby",
                 "Path to Ruby scripts relative to 'hbase.home'")
-            .add("hbase.test.mode", "false", "Disable checks for unit and manual tests")
-            .build());
+            .add("zeppelin.hbase.test.mode", "false", "Disable checks for unit and manual tests")
+          .build());
   }
 
   public HbaseInterpreter(Properties property) {
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ public class HbaseInterpreter extends Interpreter {
     this.writer = new StringWriter();
     scriptingContainer.setOutput(this.writer);
 
-    if (!Boolean.parseBoolean(getProperty("hbase.test.mode"))) {
+    if (!Boolean.parseBoolean(getProperty("zeppelin.hbase.test.mode"))) {
       String hbase_home = getProperty("hbase.home");
       String ruby_src = getProperty("hbase.ruby.sources");
       Path abs_ruby_src = Paths.get(hbase_home, ruby_src).toAbsolutePath();
@@ -155,4 +156,24 @@ public class HbaseInterpreter extends Interpreter {
     return null;
   }
 
+  private static String getSystemDefault(
+      String envName,
+      String propertyName,
+      String defaultValue) {
+
+    if (envName != null && !envName.isEmpty()) {
+      String envValue = System.getenv().get(envName);
+      if (envValue != null) {
+        return envValue;
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (propertyName != null && !propertyName.isEmpty()) {
+      String propValue = System.getProperty(propertyName);
+      if (propValue != null) {
+        return propValue;
+      }
+    }
+    return defaultValue;
+  }
 }