diff --git a/src/modules/rust.rs b/src/modules/rust.rs
index 2008a539d..31a404791 100644
--- a/src/modules/rust.rs
+++ b/src/modules/rust.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 use ansi_term::Color;
-use std::process::Command;
+use std::ffi::OsStr;
+use std::path::Path;
+use std::process::{Command, Output};
+use std::{env, fs};
 
 use super::{Context, Module};
 
@@ -9,6 +12,8 @@ use super::{Context, Module};
 ///     - Current directory contains a file with a `.rs` extension
 ///     - Current directory contains a `Cargo.toml` file
 pub fn module<'a>(context: &'a Context) -> Option<Module<'a>> {
+    const RUST_CHAR: &str = "🦀 ";
+
     let is_rs_project = context
         .try_begin_scan()?
         .set_files(&["Cargo.toml"])
@@ -19,27 +24,137 @@ pub fn module<'a>(context: &'a Context) -> Option<Module<'a>> {
         return None;
     }
 
-    match get_rust_version() {
-        Some(rust_version) => {
-            const RUST_CHAR: &str = "🦀 ";
-
-            let mut module = context.new_module("rust");
-            let module_style = module
-                .config_value_style("style")
-                .unwrap_or_else(|| Color::Red.bold());
-            module.set_style(module_style);
-
-            let formatted_version = format_rustc_version(rust_version);
-            module.new_segment("symbol", RUST_CHAR);
-            module.new_segment("version", &formatted_version);
-
-            Some(module)
+    // `$CARGO_HOME/bin/rustc(.exe) --version` may attempt installing a rustup toolchain.
+    // https://github.com/starship/starship/issues/417
+    //
+    // To display appropriate versions preventing `rustc` from downloading toolchains, we have to
+    // check
+    // 1. `$RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN`
+    // 2. `rustup override list`
+    // 3. `rust-toolchain` in `.` or parent directories
+    // as `rustup` does.
+    // https://github.com/rust-lang/rustup.rs/tree/eb694fcada7becc5d9d160bf7c623abe84f8971d#override-precedence
+    //
+    // Probably we have no other way to know whether any toolchain override is specified for the
+    // current directory. The following commands also cause toolchain installations.
+    // - `rustup show`
+    // - `rustup show active-toolchain`
+    // - `rustup which`
+    let module_version = if let Some(toolchain) = env_rustup_toolchain()
+        .or_else(|| execute_rustup_override_list(&context.current_dir))
+        .or_else(|| find_rust_toolchain_file(&context))
+    {
+        match execute_rustup_run_rustc_version(&toolchain) {
+            RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome::RustcVersion(stdout) => format_rustc_version(stdout),
+            RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome::ToolchainName(toolchain) => toolchain,
+            RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome::RustupNotWorking => {
+                // If `rustup` is not in `$PATH` or cannot be executed for other reasons, we can
+                // safely execute `rustc --version`.
+                format_rustc_version(execute_rustc_version()?)
+            }
+            RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome::Err => return None,
         }
-        None => None,
+    } else {
+        format_rustc_version(execute_rustc_version()?)
+    };
+
+    let mut module = context.new_module("rust");
+
+    let module_style = module
+        .config_value_style("style")
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| Color::Red.bold());
+    module.set_style(module_style);
+    module.new_segment("symbol", RUST_CHAR);
+    module.new_segment("version", &module_version);
+
+    Some(module)
+}
+
+fn env_rustup_toolchain() -> Option<String> {
+    let val = env::var("RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN").ok()?;
+    Some(val.trim().to_owned())
+}
+
+fn execute_rustup_override_list(cwd: &Path) -> Option<String> {
+    let Output { stdout, .. } = Command::new("rustup")
+        .args(&["override", "list"])
+        .output()
+        .ok()?;
+    let stdout = String::from_utf8(stdout).ok()?;
+    extract_toolchain_from_rustup_override_list(&stdout, cwd)
+}
+
+fn extract_toolchain_from_rustup_override_list(stdout: &str, cwd: &Path) -> Option<String> {
+    if stdout == "no overrides\n" {
+        return None;
+    }
+    stdout
+        .lines()
+        .flat_map(|line| {
+            let mut words = line.split_whitespace();
+            let dir = words.next()?;
+            let toolchain = words.next()?;
+            Some((dir, toolchain))
+        })
+        .find(|(dir, _)| cwd.starts_with(dir))
+        .map(|(_, toolchain)| toolchain.to_owned())
+}
+
+fn find_rust_toolchain_file(context: &Context) -> Option<String> {
+    // Look for 'rust-toolchain' as rustup does.
+    // https://github.com/rust-lang/rustup.rs/blob/d84e6e50126bccd84649e42482fc35a11d019401/src/config.rs#L320-L358
+
+    fn read_first_line(path: &Path) -> Option<String> {
+        let content = fs::read_to_string(path).ok()?;
+        let line = content.lines().next()?;
+        Some(line.trim().to_owned())
+    }
+
+    if let Some(path) = context
+        .get_dir_files()
+        .ok()?
+        .iter()
+        .find(|p| p.file_name() == Some(OsStr::new("rust-toolchain")))
+    {
+        if let Some(toolchain) = read_first_line(path) {
+            return Some(toolchain);
+        }
+    }
+
+    let mut dir = &*context.current_dir;
+    loop {
+        if let Some(toolchain) = read_first_line(&dir.join("rust-toolchain")) {
+            return Some(toolchain);
+        }
+        dir = dir.parent()?;
     }
 }
 
-fn get_rust_version() -> Option<String> {
+fn execute_rustup_run_rustc_version(toolchain: &str) -> RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome {
+    Command::new("rustup")
+        .args(&["run", toolchain, "rustc", "--version"])
+        .output()
+        .map(extract_toolchain_from_rustup_run_rustc_version)
+        .unwrap_or(RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome::RustupNotWorking)
+}
+
+fn extract_toolchain_from_rustup_run_rustc_version(output: Output) -> RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome {
+    if output.status.success() {
+        if let Ok(output) = String::from_utf8(output.stdout) {
+            return RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome::RustcVersion(output);
+        }
+    } else if let Ok(stderr) = String::from_utf8(output.stderr) {
+        if stderr.starts_with("error: toolchain '") && stderr.ends_with("' is not installed\n") {
+            let stderr = stderr
+                ["error: toolchain '".len()..stderr.len() - "' is not installed\n".len()]
+                .to_owned();
+            return RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome::ToolchainName(stderr);
+        }
+    }
+    RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome::Err
+}
+
+fn execute_rustc_version() -> Option<String> {
     match Command::new("rustc").arg("--version").output() {
         Ok(output) => Some(String::from_utf8(output.stdout).unwrap()),
         Err(_) => None,
@@ -53,10 +168,112 @@ fn format_rustc_version(mut rustc_stdout: String) -> String {
     format!("v{}", formatted_version.replace("rustc", "").trim())
 }
 
+#[derive(Debug, PartialEq)]
+enum RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome {
+    RustcVersion(String),
+    ToolchainName(String),
+    RustupNotWorking,
+    Err,
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
+    use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
+    use std::process::{ExitStatus, Output};
+
     use super::*;
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_extract_toolchain_from_rustup_override_list() {
+        static NO_OVERRIDES_INPUT: &str = "no overrides\n";
+        static NO_OVERRIDES_CWD: &str = "";
+        assert_eq!(
+            extract_toolchain_from_rustup_override_list(
+                NO_OVERRIDES_INPUT,
+                NO_OVERRIDES_CWD.as_ref(),
+            ),
+            None,
+        );
+
+        static OVERRIDES_INPUT: &str =
+            "/home/user/src/a                                beta-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu\n\
+             /home/user/src/b                                nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu\n";
+        static OVERRIDES_CWD_A: &str = "/home/user/src/a/src";
+        static OVERRIDES_CWD_B: &str = "/home/user/src/b/tests";
+        static OVERRIDES_CWD_C: &str = "/home/user/src/c/examples";
+        assert_eq!(
+            extract_toolchain_from_rustup_override_list(OVERRIDES_INPUT, OVERRIDES_CWD_A.as_ref()),
+            Some("beta-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu".to_owned()),
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            extract_toolchain_from_rustup_override_list(OVERRIDES_INPUT, OVERRIDES_CWD_B.as_ref()),
+            Some("nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu".to_owned()),
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            extract_toolchain_from_rustup_override_list(OVERRIDES_INPUT, OVERRIDES_CWD_C.as_ref()),
+            None,
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(any(unix, windows))]
+    #[test]
+    fn test_extract_toolchain_from_rustup_run_rustc_version() {
+        #[cfg(unix)]
+        use std::os::unix::process::ExitStatusExt as _;
+        #[cfg(windows)]
+        use std::os::windows::process::ExitStatusExt as _;
+
+        static RUSTC_VERSION: Lazy<Output> = Lazy::new(|| Output {
+            status: ExitStatus::from_raw(0),
+            stdout: b"rustc 1.34.0\n"[..].to_owned(),
+            stderr: vec![],
+        });
+        assert_eq!(
+            extract_toolchain_from_rustup_run_rustc_version(RUSTC_VERSION.clone()),
+            RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome::RustcVersion("rustc 1.34.0\n".to_owned()),
+        );
+
+        static TOOLCHAIN_NAME: Lazy<Output> = Lazy::new(|| Output {
+            status: ExitStatus::from_raw(1),
+            stdout: vec![],
+            stderr: b"error: toolchain 'channel-triple' is not installed\n"[..].to_owned(),
+        });
+        assert_eq!(
+            extract_toolchain_from_rustup_run_rustc_version(TOOLCHAIN_NAME.clone()),
+            RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome::ToolchainName("channel-triple".to_owned()),
+        );
+
+        static INVALID_STDOUT: Lazy<Output> = Lazy::new(|| Output {
+            status: ExitStatus::from_raw(0),
+            stdout: b"\xc3\x28"[..].to_owned(),
+            stderr: vec![],
+        });
+        assert_eq!(
+            extract_toolchain_from_rustup_run_rustc_version(INVALID_STDOUT.clone()),
+            RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome::Err,
+        );
+
+        static INVALID_STDERR: Lazy<Output> = Lazy::new(|| Output {
+            status: ExitStatus::from_raw(1),
+            stdout: vec![],
+            stderr: b"\xc3\x28"[..].to_owned(),
+        });
+        assert_eq!(
+            extract_toolchain_from_rustup_run_rustc_version(INVALID_STDERR.clone()),
+            RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome::Err,
+        );
+
+        static UNEXPECTED_FORMAT_OF_ERROR: Lazy<Output> = Lazy::new(|| Output {
+            status: ExitStatus::from_raw(1),
+            stdout: vec![],
+            stderr: b"error:"[..].to_owned(),
+        });
+        assert_eq!(
+            extract_toolchain_from_rustup_run_rustc_version(UNEXPECTED_FORMAT_OF_ERROR.clone()),
+            RustupRunRustcVersionOutcome::Err,
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_format_rustc_version() {
         let nightly_input = String::from("rustc 1.34.0-nightly (b139669f3 2019-04-10)");