diff --git a/circle.yml b/circle.yml
index bf961fe9..18371cbd 100644
--- a/circle.yml
+++ b/circle.yml
@@ -9,4 +9,6 @@ general:
 
 test:
   override:
-    - npm run test:cover # only run unit tets for now before we setup SauceLabs
+    - npm run lint
+    - npm run test:cover # only run unit tests in Phantom for now before we setup SauceLabs
+    - npm run test:ssr
diff --git a/src/entries/web-server-renderer.js b/src/entries/web-server-renderer.js
index f9773b65..e6dc2ff5 100644
--- a/src/entries/web-server-renderer.js
+++ b/src/entries/web-server-renderer.js
@@ -5,14 +5,23 @@ import style from 'web/server/modules/style'
 import show from 'web/server/directives/show'
 import { isUnaryTag } from 'web/util/index'
 
-export default createRenderer({
-  isUnaryTag,
-  modules: [
-    attrs,
-    klass,
-    style
-  ],
-  directives: {
-    show
-  }
-})
+const modules = [
+  attrs,
+  klass,
+  style
+]
+
+const baseDirectives = {
+  show
+}
+
+export default function publicCreateRenderer (options = {}) {
+  // user can provide server-side implementations for custom directives
+  // when creating the renderer.
+  const directives = Object.assign(baseDirectives, options.directives)
+  return createRenderer({
+    isUnaryTag,
+    modules,
+    directives
+  })
+}
diff --git a/test/ssr/ssr.stream.spec.js b/test/ssr/ssr.stream.spec.js
index 27abb302..d261cbb0 100644
--- a/test/ssr/ssr.stream.spec.js
+++ b/test/ssr/ssr.stream.spec.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import Vue from '../../dist/vue.common.js'
 import { compileToFunctions } from '../../dist/compiler.common.js'
-import { renderToStream } from '../../dist/server-renderer.js'
+import createRenderer from '../../dist/server-renderer.js'
+const { renderToStream } = createRenderer()
 
 describe('SSR: renderToStream', () => {
   it('should render to a stream', done => {
diff --git a/test/ssr/ssr.sync.spec.js b/test/ssr/ssr.sync.spec.js
index 248b8e19..f29a2b50 100644
--- a/test/ssr/ssr.sync.spec.js
+++ b/test/ssr/ssr.sync.spec.js
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 import Vue from '../../dist/vue.common.js'
 import { compileToFunctions } from '../../dist/compiler.common.js'
-import { renderToString } from '../../dist/server-renderer.js'
+import createRenderer from '../../dist/server-renderer.js'
+const { renderToString } = createRenderer()
+
+// TODO: test custom server-side directives
 
 describe('SSR: renderToString', () => {
   it('static attributes', () => {