diff --git a/ldoc.lua b/ldoc.lua
index 2e9be7b..ae5c8aa 100644
--- a/ldoc.lua
+++ b/ldoc.lua
@@ -284,6 +284,13 @@ if args.file == '.' then
       args.file = abspath(args.file)
    end
 else
+   -- user-provided config file
+   if args.config ~= 'config.ld' then
+      local err
+      config_dir,err = read_ldoc_config(args.config)
+      if err then quit("no "..quote(args.config).." found") end
+   end
+   -- with user-provided file
    args.file = abspath(args.file)
 end
 
diff --git a/tests/styles/config/config.ld b/tests/styles/config/config.ld
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..239ae21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/styles/config/config.ld
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+no_return_or_parms=true
+no_summary=true