diff --git a/HISTORY.rst b/HISTORY.rst
index b3492c21..7bf75107 100644
--- a/HISTORY.rst
+++ b/HISTORY.rst
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ Release History
   For more details refer to the following links:
     http://internetarchive.readthedocs.io/en/latest/quickstart.html?highlight=configure#configuring
     http://internetarchive.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api.html#configuration
+- Added ability to specify your own filepath in ``ia configure`` and ``internetarchive.configure()``.
 
 **Bugfixes**
 
diff --git a/docs/source/api.rst b/docs/source/api.rst
index e85e41e9..728d9113 100644
--- a/docs/source/api.rst
+++ b/docs/source/api.rst
@@ -16,7 +16,21 @@ The easiest way to create a config file is with the `configure <internetarchive.
     >>> from internetarchive import configure
     >>> configure('user@example.com', 'password')
 
-Config files are stored in either ``$HOME/.ia`` or ``$HOME/.config/ia.ini`` by default, but other config files can be specified when insantiating an :class:`ArchiveSession` or :class:`Item` object.
+Config files are stored in either ``$HOME/.ia`` or ``$HOME/.config/ia.ini`` by default. You can also specify your own path::
+
+
+    >>> from internetarchive import configure
+    >>> configure('user@example.com', 'password', config_file='/home/jake/.config/ia-alternate.ini')
+
+Custom config files can be specified when insantiating an :class:`ArchiveSession` object::
+
+    >>> from internetarchive import get_session
+    >>> s = get_session(config_file='/home/jake/.config/ia-alternate.ini')
+
+Or an :class:`Item` object::
+
+    >>> form internetarchive import get_item
+    >>> item = get_item('nasa', config_file='/home/jake/.config/ia-alternate.ini')
 
 IA-S3 Configuration
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/docs/source/quickstart.rst b/docs/source/quickstart.rst
index 67b69f11..73ebf45e 100644
--- a/docs/source/quickstart.rst
+++ b/docs/source/quickstart.rst
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ To automatically create a config file with your Archive.org credentials, you can
     
     Config saved to: /home/user/.config/ia.ini
 
-Your config file will be saved to ``$HOME/.config/ia.ini``, or ``$HOME/.ia`` if you do not have a ``.config`` directory in ``$HOME``.
+Your config file will be saved to ``$HOME/.config/ia.ini``, or ``$HOME/.ia`` if you do not have a ``.config`` directory in ``$HOME``. Alternatively, you can specify your own path to save the config to via ``ia --config-file '~/.ia-custom-config' configure``.
 
 
 Uploading
diff --git a/internetarchive/api.py b/internetarchive/api.py
index 844b1ace..d01f1837 100644
--- a/internetarchive/api.py
+++ b/internetarchive/api.py
@@ -487,7 +487,7 @@ def search_items(query,
                                         request_kwargs=request_kwargs)
 
 
-def configure(username=None, password=None):
+def configure(username=None, password=None, config_file=None):
     """Configure internetarchive with your Archive.org credentials.
 
     :type username: str
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ def configure(username=None, password=None):
     """
     username = input('Email address: ') if not username else username
     password = getpass('Password: ') if not password else password
-    config_file_path = config_module.write_config_file(username, password)
+    config_file_path = config_module.write_config_file(username, password, config_file)
     print('\nConfig saved to: {0}'.format(config_file_path))
 
 
diff --git a/internetarchive/cli/ia.py b/internetarchive/cli/ia.py
index cd237566..5609611a 100755
--- a/internetarchive/cli/ia.py
+++ b/internetarchive/cli/ia.py
@@ -107,8 +107,7 @@ def main():
     # Validate args.
     s = Schema({
         six.text_type: bool,
-        '--config-file': Or(None, lambda f: os.path.exists(f),
-                            error='--config-file should be a readable file.'),
+        '--config-file': Or(None, str),
         '<args>': list,
         '<command>': Or(str, lambda _: 'help'),
     })
@@ -130,6 +129,12 @@ def main():
             ia_module = load_ia_module(args['<args>'][0])
             sys.exit(print(ia_module.__doc__.strip(), file=sys.stderr))
 
+    if cmd != 'configure' and args['--config-file']:
+        if not os.path.isfile(args['--config-file']):
+            print('--config-file should be a readable file.\n{0}'.format(
+                printable_usage(__doc__)), file=sys.stderr)
+            sys.exit(1)
+
     argv = [cmd] + args['<args>']
 
     config = dict()
diff --git a/internetarchive/cli/ia_configure.py b/internetarchive/cli/ia_configure.py
index e103e69c..e31b865a 100755
--- a/internetarchive/cli/ia_configure.py
+++ b/internetarchive/cli/ia_configure.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def main(argv, session):
     docopt(__doc__, argv=argv)
     print("Enter your Archive.org credentials below to configure 'ia'.\n")
     try:
-        configure()
+        configure(config_file=session.config_file)
     except AuthenticationError as exc:
         print('\nerror: {0}'.format(str(exc)))
         sys.exit(1)
diff --git a/internetarchive/config.py b/internetarchive/config.py
index cc131a20..240598b5 100644
--- a/internetarchive/config.py
+++ b/internetarchive/config.py
@@ -77,8 +77,8 @@ def get_auth_config(username, password):
     return auth_config
 
 
-def write_config_file(username, password):
-    config_file, config = parse_config_file()
+def write_config_file(username, password, config_file=None):
+    config_file, config = parse_config_file(config_file)
     auth_config = get_auth_config(username, password)
 
     # S3 Keys.
diff --git a/internetarchive/session.py b/internetarchive/session.py
index 0e1a0e2f..865d9868 100644
--- a/internetarchive/session.py
+++ b/internetarchive/session.py
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ def __init__(self,
         debug = False if not debug else True
 
         self.config = get_config(config, config_file)
+        self.config_file = config_file
         self.cookies.update(self.config.get('cookies', {}))
         self.secure = self.config.get('general', {}).get('secure', True)
         self.protocol = 'https:' if self.secure else 'http:'