diff --git a/py_zerox/pyzerox/core/zerox.py b/py_zerox/pyzerox/core/zerox.py
index 6b7c8dc..bbce062 100644
--- a/py_zerox/pyzerox/core/zerox.py
+++ b/py_zerox/pyzerox/core/zerox.py
@@ -131,9 +131,15 @@ async def zerox(
                                     "save_directory":temp_directory, "suffix":"_selected_pages"}
             local_path = await asyncio.to_thread(create_selected_pages_pdf, 
                                                  **subset_pdf_create_kwargs)
+        
+        # explicitly pass poppler path via kwargs
+        if "poppler_path" in kwargs:
+            poppler_path = kwargs["poppler_path"]
+        else:
+            poppler_path = None
 
         # Convert the file to a series of images, below function returns a list of image paths in page order
-        images = await convert_pdf_to_images(image_density=image_density, image_height=image_height, local_path=local_path, temp_dir=temp_directory)
+        images = await convert_pdf_to_images(image_density=image_density, image_height=image_height, local_path=local_path, temp_dir=temp_directory, poppler_path=poppler_path)
 
         if maintain_format:
             for image in images:
@@ -199,4 +205,4 @@ async def zerox(
             input_tokens=input_token_count,
             output_tokens=output_token_count,
             pages=formatted_pages,
-        )
\ No newline at end of file
+        )
diff --git a/py_zerox/pyzerox/processor/pdf.py b/py_zerox/pyzerox/processor/pdf.py
index af36629..b0dc4e8 100644
--- a/py_zerox/pyzerox/processor/pdf.py
+++ b/py_zerox/pyzerox/processor/pdf.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 from ..models import litellmmodel
 
 
-async def convert_pdf_to_images(image_density: int, image_height: tuple[Optional[int], int], local_path: str, temp_dir: str) -> List[str]:
+async def convert_pdf_to_images(image_density: int, image_height: tuple[Optional[int], int], local_path: str, temp_dir: str, poppler_path: str = None) -> List[str]:
     """Converts a PDF file to a series of images in the temp_dir. Returns a list of image paths in page order."""
     options = {
         "pdf_path": local_path,
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ async def convert_pdf_to_images(image_density: int, image_height: tuple[Optional
         "thread_count": PDFConversionDefaultOptions.THREAD_COUNT,
         "use_pdftocairo": PDFConversionDefaultOptions.USE_PDFTOCAIRO,
         "paths_only": True,
+        "poppler_path": poppler_path
     }
 
     try: