diff --git a/datadog_lambda/handler.py b/datadog_lambda/handler.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2c531515
--- /dev/null
+++ b/datadog_lambda/handler.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# Unless explicitly stated otherwise all files in this repository are licensed
+# under the Apache License Version 2.0.
+# This product includes software developed at Datadog (https://www.datadoghq.com/).
+# Copyright 2020 Datadog, Inc.
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+from importlib import import_module
+
+import os
+from datadog_lambda.wrapper import datadog_lambda_wrapper
+
+
+class HandlerError(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
+path = os.environ.get("DD_LAMBDA_HANDLER", None)
+if path is None:
+    raise HandlerError(
+        "DD_LAMBDA_HANDLER is not defined. Can't use prebuilt datadog handler"
+    )
+parts = path.rsplit(".", 1)
+if len(parts) != 2:
+    raise HandlerError("Value %s for DD_LAMBDA_HANDLER has invalid format." % path)
+
+(mod_name, handler_name) = parts
+handler_module = import_module(mod_name)
+handler = datadog_lambda_wrapper(getattr(handler_module, handler_name))