diff --git a/lib/less/parser.js b/lib/less/parser.js
index 14b7fba..f6d9f5c 100644
--- a/lib/less/parser.js
+++ b/lib/less/parser.js
@@ -254,18 +254,43 @@ less.Parser = function Parser(env) {
             root.toCSS = (function (toCSS) {
                 var line, lines, column;
 
-                return function (options) {
+                return function (options, variables) {
+                    var frames = [];
+
                     options = options || {};
+                    //
+                    // Allows setting variables with a hash, so:
+                    //
+                    //   `{ color: new(tree.Color)('#f01') }` will become:
+                    //
+                    //   new(tree.Rule)('@color',
+                    //     new(tree.Value)([
+                    //       new(tree.Expression)([
+                    //         new(tree.Color)('#f01')
+                    //       ])
+                    //     ])
+                    //   )
+                    //
+                    if (typeof(variables) === 'object' && !Array.isArray(variables)) {
+                        variables = Object.keys(variables).map(function (k) {
+                            var value = variables[k];
+
+                            if (! (value instanceof tree.Value)) {
+                                if (! (value instanceof tree.Expression)) {
+                                    value = new(tree.Expression)([value]);
+                                }
+                                value = new(tree.Value)([value]);
+                            }
+                            return new(tree.Rule)('@' + k, value, false, 0);
+                        });
+                        frames = [new(tree.Ruleset)(null, variables)];
+                    }
+
                     try {
                         var css = toCSS.call(this, [], {
-                            frames: [],
+                            frames:   frames,
                             compress: options.compress || false
                         });
-                        if (options.compress) {
-                            return css.replace(/(\s)+/g, "$1");
-                        } else {
-                            return css;
-                        }
                     } catch (e) {
                         lines = input.split('\n');
                         line = getLine(e.index);
@@ -291,6 +316,11 @@ less.Parser = function Parser(env) {
                             ]
                         };
                     }
+                    if (options.compress) {
+                        return css.replace(/(\s)+/g, "$1");
+                    } else {
+                        return css;
+                    }
 
                     function getLine(index) {
                         return (input.slice(0, index).match(/\n/g) || "").length;