diff --git a/Snakefile b/Snakefile
index 8cdca119..6e4bc637 100644
--- a/Snakefile
+++ b/Snakefile
@@ -1,3 +1,22 @@
+configfile: "config.yaml"
+
+if config["remote"] == "S3":
+    from snakemake.remote.S3 import RemoteProvider as S3RemoteProvider
+    provider = S3RemoteProvider(
+        endpoint_url="https://eics3.sdcc.bnl.gov:9000",
+        access_key_id=os.environ["S3_ACCESS_KEY"],
+        secret_access_key=os.environ["S3_SECRET_KEY"],
+    )
+    remote_path = lambda path: f"eictest/{path}"
+elif config["remote"] == "XRootD":
+    from snakemake.remote.XRootD import RemoteProvider as XRootDRemoteProvider
+    provider = XRootDRemoteProvider(
+        stay_on_remote=False,
+    )
+    remote_path = lambda path: f"root://dtn-eic.jlab.org//work/eic2/{path}"
+else:
+    raise ValueError(f"Unexpected config[\"remote\"] = {config['remote']}")
+
 include: "benchmarks/backgrounds/Snakefile"
 include: "benchmarks/barrel_ecal/Snakefile"
 
diff --git a/benchmarks/backgrounds/Snakefile b/benchmarks/backgrounds/Snakefile
index 7f34ae66..3e3b1c66 100644
--- a/benchmarks/backgrounds/Snakefile
+++ b/benchmarks/backgrounds/Snakefile
@@ -1,19 +1,10 @@
 import os
 import shutil
 
-from snakemake.remote.S3 import RemoteProvider as S3RemoteProvider
-
-
-S3 = S3RemoteProvider(
-    endpoint_url="https://eics3.sdcc.bnl.gov:9000",
-    access_key_id=os.environ["S3_ACCESS_KEY"],
-    secret_access_key=os.environ["S3_SECRET_KEY"],
-)
-
 
 rule backgrounds_get_beam_gas_electron:
     input:
-        S3.remote("eictest/EPIC/EVGEN/BACKGROUNDS/BEAMGAS/electron/beam_gas_ep_10GeV_foam_emin10keV_10Mevt_vtx.hepmc"),
+        provider.remote(remote_path("EPIC/EVGEN/BACKGROUNDS/BEAMGAS/electron/beam_gas_ep_10GeV_foam_emin10keV_10Mevt_vtx.hepmc")),
     output:
         "input/backgrounds/beam_gas_electron.hepmc",
     run:
@@ -22,7 +13,7 @@ rule backgrounds_get_beam_gas_electron:
 
 rule backgrounds_get_beam_gas_proton:
     input:
-        S3.remote("eictest/EPIC/EVGEN/BACKGROUNDS/BEAMGAS/proton/ProtonBeamGasEvents/100GeV/100GeV_1.hepmc"),
+        provider.remote(remote_path("EPIC/EVGEN/BACKGROUNDS/BEAMGAS/proton/ProtonBeamGasEvents/100GeV/100GeV_1.hepmc")),
     output:
         "input/backgrounds/beam_gas_proton.hepmc",
     run:
@@ -31,7 +22,7 @@ rule backgrounds_get_beam_gas_proton:
 
 rule backgrounds_get_DIS:
     input:
-        S3.remote("eictest/EPIC/EVGEN/DIS/NC/{BEAM}/minQ2={MINQ2}/pythia8NCDIS_{BEAM}_minQ2={MINQ2}_{SUFFIX}.hepmc"),
+        provider.remote(remote_path("EPIC/EVGEN/DIS/NC/{BEAM}/minQ2={MINQ2}/pythia8NCDIS_{BEAM}_minQ2={MINQ2}_{SUFFIX}.hepmc")),
     wildcard_constraints:
         BEAM="\d+x\d+",
         MINQ2="\d+",
diff --git a/config.yaml b/config.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..14f6faad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+remote: XRootD