diff --git a/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp b/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp
index 68f5d90f51..9d4c4e53bd 100644
--- a/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp
+++ b/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ static bool AppInitRPC(int argc, char* argv[])
         return false;
     }
     try {
-        ReadConfigFile(mapArgs, mapMultiArgs);
+        ReadConfigFile(GetArg("-conf", BITCOIN_CONF_FILENAME), mapArgs, mapMultiArgs);
     } catch (const std::exception& e) {
         fprintf(stderr,"Error reading configuration file: %s\n", e.what());
         return false;
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ UniValue CallRPC(const string& strMethod, const UniValue& params)
         if (!GetAuthCookie(&strRPCUserColonPass)) {
             throw runtime_error(strprintf(
                 _("Could not locate RPC credentials. No authentication cookie could be found, and no rpcpassword is set in the configuration file (%s)"),
-                    GetConfigFile().string().c_str()));
+                    GetConfigFile(GetArg("-conf", BITCOIN_CONF_FILENAME)).string().c_str()));
 
         }
     } else {
diff --git a/src/bitcoind.cpp b/src/bitcoind.cpp
index 25d720e1e8..351463c256 100644
--- a/src/bitcoind.cpp
+++ b/src/bitcoind.cpp
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ bool AppInit(int argc, char* argv[])
         }
         try
         {
-            ReadConfigFile(mapArgs, mapMultiArgs);
+            ReadConfigFile(GetArg("-conf", BITCOIN_CONF_FILENAME), mapArgs, mapMultiArgs);
         } catch (const std::exception& e) {
             fprintf(stderr,"Error reading configuration file: %s\n", e.what());
             return false;
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index cf92347952..eefef7ba0b 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -1064,7 +1064,7 @@ bool AppInit2(boost::thread_group& threadGroup, CScheduler& scheduler)
         LogPrintf("Startup time: %s\n", DateTimeStrFormat("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S", GetTime()));
     LogPrintf("Default data directory %s\n", GetDefaultDataDir().string());
     LogPrintf("Using data directory %s\n", strDataDir);
-    LogPrintf("Using config file %s\n", GetConfigFile().string());
+    LogPrintf("Using config file %s\n", GetConfigFile(GetArg("-conf", BITCOIN_CONF_FILENAME)).string());
     LogPrintf("Using at most %i connections (%i file descriptors available)\n", nMaxConnections, nFD);
 
     LogPrintf("Using %u threads for script verification\n", nScriptCheckThreads);
diff --git a/src/qt/bitcoin.cpp b/src/qt/bitcoin.cpp
index 430e6dd0e8..9986af4957 100644
--- a/src/qt/bitcoin.cpp
+++ b/src/qt/bitcoin.cpp
@@ -590,7 +590,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         return 1;
     }
     try {
-        ReadConfigFile(mapArgs, mapMultiArgs);
+        ReadConfigFile(GetArg("-conf", BITCOIN_CONF_FILENAME), mapArgs, mapMultiArgs);
     } catch (const std::exception& e) {
         QMessageBox::critical(0, QObject::tr(PACKAGE_NAME),
                               QObject::tr("Error: Cannot parse configuration file: %1. Only use key=value syntax.").arg(e.what()));
diff --git a/src/util.cpp b/src/util.cpp
index 93cc0412b5..c20ede6221 100644
--- a/src/util.cpp
+++ b/src/util.cpp
@@ -518,19 +518,20 @@ void ClearDatadirCache()
     pathCachedNetSpecific = boost::filesystem::path();
 }
 
-boost::filesystem::path GetConfigFile()
+boost::filesystem::path GetConfigFile(const std::string& confPath)
 {
-    boost::filesystem::path pathConfigFile(GetArg("-conf", BITCOIN_CONF_FILENAME));
+    boost::filesystem::path pathConfigFile(confPath);
     if (!pathConfigFile.is_complete())
         pathConfigFile = GetDataDir(false) / pathConfigFile;
 
     return pathConfigFile;
 }
 
-void ReadConfigFile(map<string, string>& mapSettingsRet,
+void ReadConfigFile(const std::string& confPath,
+                    map<string, string>& mapSettingsRet,
                     map<string, vector<string> >& mapMultiSettingsRet)
 {
-    boost::filesystem::ifstream streamConfig(GetConfigFile());
+    boost::filesystem::ifstream streamConfig(GetConfigFile(confPath));
     if (!streamConfig.good())
         return; // No bitcoin.conf file is OK
 
diff --git a/src/util.h b/src/util.h
index 45b3658557..bbb9b5db82 100644
--- a/src/util.h
+++ b/src/util.h
@@ -102,12 +102,12 @@ bool TryCreateDirectory(const boost::filesystem::path& p);
 boost::filesystem::path GetDefaultDataDir();
 const boost::filesystem::path &GetDataDir(bool fNetSpecific = true);
 void ClearDatadirCache();
-boost::filesystem::path GetConfigFile();
+boost::filesystem::path GetConfigFile(const std::string& confPath);
 #ifndef WIN32
 boost::filesystem::path GetPidFile();
 void CreatePidFile(const boost::filesystem::path &path, pid_t pid);
 #endif
-void ReadConfigFile(std::map<std::string, std::string>& mapSettingsRet, std::map<std::string, std::vector<std::string> >& mapMultiSettingsRet);
+void ReadConfigFile(const std::string& confPath, std::map<std::string, std::string>& mapSettingsRet, std::map<std::string, std::vector<std::string> >& mapMultiSettingsRet);
 #ifdef WIN32
 boost::filesystem::path GetSpecialFolderPath(int nFolder, bool fCreate = true);
 #endif