diff --git a/cli/args/flags.rs b/cli/args/flags.rs
index 7a4416cf50..f1acbf48dc 100644
--- a/cli/args/flags.rs
+++ b/cli/args/flags.rs
@@ -547,6 +547,7 @@ static ENV_VARIABLES_HELP: &str = r#"ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES:
                          (module downloads, fetch)
     HTTPS_PROXY          Proxy address for HTTPS requests
                          (module downloads, fetch)
+    NPM_CONFIG_REGISTRY  URL to use for the npm registry.
     NO_COLOR             Set to disable color
     NO_PROXY             Comma-separated list of hosts which do not use a proxy
                          (module downloads, fetch)"#;
diff --git a/cli/npm/registry.rs b/cli/npm/registry.rs
index 9ba5653662..749a047ab1 100644
--- a/cli/npm/registry.rs
+++ b/cli/npm/registry.rs
@@ -228,22 +228,37 @@ pub struct RealNpmRegistryApi(Arc<RealNpmRegistryApiInner>);
 
 impl RealNpmRegistryApi {
   pub fn default_url() -> Url {
-    let env_var_name = "DENO_NPM_REGISTRY";
-    if let Ok(registry_url) = std::env::var(env_var_name) {
-      // ensure there is a trailing slash for the directory
-      let registry_url = format!("{}/", registry_url.trim_end_matches('/'));
-      match Url::parse(&registry_url) {
-        Ok(url) => url,
-        Err(err) => {
-          eprintln!("{}: Invalid {} environment variable. Please provide a valid url.\n\n{:#}",
-          colors::red_bold("error"),
-          env_var_name, err);
-          std::process::exit(1);
+    // todo(dsherret): remove DENO_NPM_REGISTRY in the future (maybe May 2023)
+    let env_var_names = ["NPM_CONFIG_REGISTRY", "DENO_NPM_REGISTRY"];
+    for env_var_name in env_var_names {
+      if let Ok(registry_url) = std::env::var(env_var_name) {
+        // ensure there is a trailing slash for the directory
+        let registry_url = format!("{}/", registry_url.trim_end_matches('/'));
+        match Url::parse(&registry_url) {
+          Ok(url) => {
+            if env_var_name == "DENO_NPM_REGISTRY" {
+              log::warn!(
+                "{}",
+                colors::yellow(concat!(
+                  "DENO_NPM_REGISTRY was intended for internal testing purposes only. ",
+                  "Please update to NPM_CONFIG_REGISTRY instead.",
+                )),
+              );
+            }
+            return url;
+          }
+          Err(err) => {
+            log::debug!(
+              "Invalid {} environment variable: {:#}",
+              env_var_name,
+              err,
+            );
+          }
         }
       }
-    } else {
-      Url::parse("https://registry.npmjs.org").unwrap()
     }
+
+    Url::parse("https://registry.npmjs.org").unwrap()
   }
 
   pub fn new(
diff --git a/test_util/src/lib.rs b/test_util/src/lib.rs
index b1b14c0040..588b72bbe2 100644
--- a/test_util/src/lib.rs
+++ b/test_util/src/lib.rs
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ lazy_static! {
 pub fn env_vars_for_npm_tests_no_sync_download() -> Vec<(String, String)> {
   vec![
     ("DENO_NODE_COMPAT_URL".to_string(), std_file_url()),
-    ("DENO_NPM_REGISTRY".to_string(), npm_registry_url()),
+    ("NPM_CONFIG_REGISTRY".to_string(), npm_registry_url()),
     ("NO_COLOR".to_string(), "1".to_string()),
   ]
 }
diff --git a/test_util/src/lsp.rs b/test_util/src/lsp.rs
index b2c28268e0..c1e4c875aa 100644
--- a/test_util/src/lsp.rs
+++ b/test_util/src/lsp.rs
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ impl LspClient {
     command
       .env("DENO_DIR", deno_dir.path())
       .env("DENO_NODE_COMPAT_URL", std_file_url())
-      .env("DENO_NPM_REGISTRY", npm_registry_url())
+      .env("NPM_CONFIG_REGISTRY", npm_registry_url())
       .arg("lsp")
       .stdin(Stdio::piped())
       .stdout(Stdio::piped());