diff --git a/awesome.c b/awesome.c
index df6123ca..0c6644cf 100644
--- a/awesome.c
+++ b/awesome.c
@@ -270,6 +270,7 @@ int
 main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
     char *p;
+    const char *confpath = NULL;
     int r, xfd, e_dummy;
     fd_set rd;
     XEvent ev;
@@ -281,13 +282,23 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
     Atom netatom[NetLast];
     event_handler **handler;
 
-    if(argc == 2 && !a_strcmp("-v", argv[1]))
+    if(argc >= 2)
     {
-        printf("awesome-" VERSION " © 2007 Julien Danjou\n");
-        return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+        if(!a_strcmp("-v", argv[1]))
+        {
+            printf("awesome-" VERSION " © 2007 Julien Danjou\n");
+            return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+        }
+        else if(!a_strcmp("-c", argv[1]))
+        {
+            if(a_strlen(argv[2]))
+                confpath = argv[2];
+            else
+                eprint("awesome: -c require a file\n");
+        }
+        else
+            eprint("usage: awesome [-v | -c configfile]\n");
     }
-    else if(argc != 1)
-        eprint("usage: awesome [-v]\n");
 
     /* Tag won't be printed otherwised */
     setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "");
@@ -317,7 +328,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
     for(screen = 0; screen < ScreenCount(dpy); screen++)
     {
-        parse_config(dpy, screen, &dc[screen], &awesomeconf[screen]);
+        parse_config(dpy, screen, &dc[screen], confpath, &awesomeconf[screen]);
         setup(dpy, screen, &dc[screen], &awesomeconf[screen]);
         XChangeProperty(dpy, RootWindow(dpy, screen), netatom[NetSupported],
                         XA_ATOM, 32, PropModeReplace, (unsigned char *) netatom, NetLast);
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 2b9bf016..439b2697 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ name_func_lookup(const char *funcname, const NameFuncLink * list)
  * \param drawcontext Draw context
  */
 void
-parse_config(Display * disp, int scr, DC * drawcontext, awesome_config *awesomeconf)
+parse_config(Display * disp, int scr, DC * drawcontext, const char *confpatharg, awesome_config *awesomeconf)
 {
     /* Main configuration object for parsing*/
     config_t awesomelibconf;
@@ -179,12 +179,17 @@ parse_config(Display * disp, int scr, DC * drawcontext, awesome_config *awesomec
     KeySym tmp_key;
     ssize_t confpath_len;
 
-    homedir = getenv("HOME");
-    confpath_len = a_strlen(homedir) + a_strlen(AWESOME_CONFIG_FILE) + 2;
-    confpath = p_new(char, confpath_len);
-    a_strcpy(confpath, confpath_len, homedir);
-    a_strcat(confpath, confpath_len, "/");
-    a_strcat(confpath, confpath_len, AWESOME_CONFIG_FILE);
+    if(confpatharg)
+        confpath = a_strdup(confpatharg);
+    else
+    {
+        homedir = getenv("HOME");
+        confpath_len = a_strlen(homedir) + a_strlen(AWESOME_CONFIG_FILE) + 2;
+        confpath = p_new(char, confpath_len);
+        a_strcpy(confpath, confpath_len, homedir);
+        a_strcat(confpath, confpath_len, "/");
+        a_strcat(confpath, confpath_len, AWESOME_CONFIG_FILE);
+    }
 
     config_init(&awesomelibconf);
 
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 9b3ea4a9..c568788d 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -159,6 +159,6 @@ struct awesome_config
     Bool have_randr;
 };
 
-void parse_config(Display *, int, DC *, awesome_config *);        /* parse configuration file */
+void parse_config(Display *, int, DC *, const char *, awesome_config *);        /* parse configuration file */
 
 #endif