diff --git a/kitty/config.py b/kitty/config.py
index fce0137f0..c6acd5106 100644
--- a/kitty/config.py
+++ b/kitty/config.py
@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)), 'kitty.conf')
     defaults = parse_config(f.readlines())
 Options = namedtuple('Defaults', ','.join(defaults.keys()))
 defaults = Options(**defaults)
+actions = frozenset(defaults.keymap.values())
 
 
 def update_dict(a, b):
@@ -193,22 +194,27 @@ def merge_dicts(vals, defaults):
     return {k: update_dict(v, vals.get(k, {})) if isinstance(v, dict) else vals.get(k, v) for k, v in defaults.items()}
 
 
-def load_config(path: str) -> Options:
-    if not path:
-        return defaults
-    try:
-        f = open(path)
-    except FileNotFoundError:
-        return defaults
-    ans = defaults._asdict()
-    actions = frozenset(defaults.keymap.values())
-    with f:
-        vals = parse_config(f)
-    remove_keys = {k for k, v in vals.get('keymap', {}).items() if v in ('noop', 'no-op', 'no_op')}
+def merge_configs(ans, vals):
     vals['keymap'] = {k: v for k, v in vals.get('keymap', {}).items() if v in actions}
+    remove_keys = {k for k, v in vals.get('keymap', {}).items() if v in ('noop', 'no-op', 'no_op')}
     ans = merge_dicts(vals, ans)
     for k in remove_keys:
         ans['keymap'].pop(k, None)
+    return ans
+
+
+def load_config(*paths) -> Options:
+    ans = defaults._asdict()
+    for path in paths:
+        if not path:
+            continue
+        try:
+            f = open(path)
+        except FileNotFoundError:
+            continue
+        with f:
+            vals = parse_config(f)
+            ans = merge_configs(ans, vals)
     return Options(**ans)
 
 
diff --git a/kitty/main.py b/kitty/main.py
index 5cfd60348..7dce730fd 100644
--- a/kitty/main.py
+++ b/kitty/main.py
@@ -30,13 +30,14 @@ from .layout import all_layouts
 from .shaders import GL_VERSION
 from .utils import safe_print
 
+defconf = os.path.join(config_dir, 'kitty.conf')
+
 
 def option_parser():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
         prog=appname,
         description=_('The {} terminal emulator').format(appname)
     )
-    defconf = os.path.join(config_dir, 'kitty.conf')
     a = parser.add_argument
     a(
         '--class',
@@ -46,9 +47,12 @@ def option_parser():
     )
     a(
         '--config',
-        default=defconf,
-        help=_('Specify a path to the config file to use. Default: {}')
-        .format(defconf)
+        action='append',
+        help=_(
+            'Specify a path to the config file(s) to use.'
+            ' Can be specified multiple times to read multiple'
+            ' config files in sequence, which are merged. Default: {}'
+        ).format(defconf)
     )
     a(
         '--cmd',
@@ -208,7 +212,8 @@ def main():
         from kitty.client import main
         main(args.replay_commands)
         return
-    opts = load_config(args.config)
+    config = args.config or (defconf, )
+    opts = load_config(*config)
     change_wcwidth(not opts.use_system_wcwidth)
     glfw_set_error_callback(on_glfw_error)
     enable_automatic_opengl_error_checking(False)