diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 50f19d6..08b0d01 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"io/fs"
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -10,37 +11,47 @@ import (
 )
 
 type configFile struct {
-	DiableTagSigning     bool     `yaml:"disable_signed_tags"`
-	MatchMajor           []string `yaml:"match_major"`
-	MatchPatch           []string `yaml:"match_patch"`
-	ReleaseCommitMessage string   `yaml:"release_commit_message"`
-	IgnoreMessages       []string `yaml:"ignore_messages"`
+	DiableTagSigning bool `yaml:"disable_signed_tags"`
+
+	MatchMajor []string `yaml:"match_major"`
+	MatchPatch []string `yaml:"match_patch"`
+
+	ReleaseCommitMessage string `yaml:"release_commit_message"`
+
+	IgnoreMessages []string `yaml:"ignore_messages"`
 }
 
-func loadConfig() (*configFile, error) {
+func loadConfig(configFiles ...string) (*configFile, error) {
 	var err error
 
-	if _, err = os.Stat(cfg.ConfigFile); err != nil {
-		return nil, errors.New("config file does not exist, use --create-config to create one")
-	}
-
 	c := &configFile{}
 	if err = yaml.Unmarshal(mustAsset("assets/git_changerelease.yaml"), c); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unmarshalling default config: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	dataFile, err := os.Open(cfg.ConfigFile)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("opening config file: %w", err)
-	}
-	defer func() {
-		if err := dataFile.Close(); err != nil {
-			logrus.WithError(err).Debug("closing config file (leaked fd)")
+	for _, fn := range configFiles {
+		if _, err = os.Stat(fn); err != nil {
+			if errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
+				logrus.WithField("path", fn).Debug("config-file does not exist, skipping")
+				continue
+			}
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("getting config-file stat for %q: %w", fn, err)
 		}
-	}()
 
-	if err = yaml.NewDecoder(dataFile).Decode(c); err != nil {
-		return c, fmt.Errorf("decoding config file: %w", err)
+		logrus.WithField("path", fn).Debug("loading config-file")
+
+		dataFile, err := os.Open(fn) //#nosec:G304 // This is intended to load variable files
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("opening config file: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		if err = yaml.NewDecoder(dataFile).Decode(c); err != nil {
+			return c, fmt.Errorf("decoding config file: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		if err := dataFile.Close(); err != nil {
+			logrus.WithError(err).WithField("path", fn).Debug("closing config file (leaked fd)")
+		}
 	}
 
 	return c, nil
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 90b4196..5e855c0 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -79,8 +79,13 @@ func initApp() (err error) {
 		return errors.New("tried to open the changelog in the editor but there is no $EDITOR in your env")
 	}
 
-	if config, err = loadConfig(); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("loading config file: %w", err)
+	projectConfig, err := filenameInGitRoot(".git_changerelease.yaml")
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("building filename for project config: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if config, err = loadConfig(cfg.ConfigFile, projectConfig); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("loading config file(s): %w", err)
 	}
 
 	// Collect matchers