diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5d690c1e..abc1fa04 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -284,7 +284,11 @@ See [`--force` flag](#overriding-governor) for more info.
 
 You can configure separate profiles for the battery and power supply. These profiles will let you pick which governor to use, as well as how and when turbo boost is enabled. The possible values for turbo boost behavior are `always`, `auto`, and `never`. The default behavior is `auto`, which only activates turbo during high load.
 
-By default, auto-cpufreq does not use the config file! If you wish to use it, the location where it needs to be placed to be read automatically is: `/etc/auto-cpufreq.conf`
+By default, auto-cpufreq does not use a config file. If you wish to configure auto-cpufreq statically, we look for a configuration file in the following order:
+
+1. Commandline argument: `--config <FILE>` if passed as commandline argument to `auto-cpufreq`
+2. User-specific configuration: `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/auto-cpufreq/auto-cpufreq.conf`
+3. System-wide configuration: `/etc/auto-cpufreq.conf`
 
 #### Example config file contents
 ```python
diff --git a/auto_cpufreq/bin/auto_cpufreq.py b/auto_cpufreq/bin/auto_cpufreq.py
index 39fb0944..b592b27b 100755
--- a/auto_cpufreq/bin/auto_cpufreq.py
+++ b/auto_cpufreq/bin/auto_cpufreq.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 @click.option(
     "--config",
     is_flag=False,
-    default="/etc/auto-cpufreq.conf",
+    required=False,
     help="Use config file at defined path",
 )
 @click.option("--debug", is_flag=True, help="Show debug info (include when submitting bugs)")
@@ -41,8 +41,10 @@ def main(config, daemon, debug, update, install, remove, live, log, monitor, sta
 
     # display info if config file is used
     def config_info_dialog():
-        if get_config(config) and hasattr(get_config, "using_cfg_file"):
-            print("\nUsing settings defined in " + config + " file")
+
+        config_file = find_config_file(config)
+        if get_config(config_file) and hasattr(get_config, "using_cfg_file"):
+            print("\nUsing settings defined in " + config_file + " file")
 
     # set governor override unless None or invalid
     if force is not None:
diff --git a/auto_cpufreq/core.py b/auto_cpufreq/core.py
index 66e4978a..8ba2b845 100755
--- a/auto_cpufreq/core.py
+++ b/auto_cpufreq/core.py
@@ -84,6 +84,40 @@ def file_stats():
     auto_cpufreq_stats_file = open(auto_cpufreq_stats_path, "w")
     sys.stdout = auto_cpufreq_stats_file
 
+
+def find_config_file(args_config_file):
+    """
+    Find the config file to use.
+
+    Look for a config file in the following priorization order:
+    1. Command line argument
+    2. User config file
+    3. System config file
+
+    :param args_config_file: Path to the config file provided as a command line argument
+    :return: The path to the config file to use
+    """
+
+    # Prepare paths
+    home = os.getenv("HOME")
+    user_config_dir = os.getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME", default=os.path.join(home, ".config"))
+    user_config_file = os.path.join(user_config_dir, "auto-cpufreq/auto-cpufreq.conf")
+    system_config_file = "/etc/auto-cpufreq.conf"
+
+    if args_config_file is not None: # (1) Command line argument was specified
+        # Check if the config file path points to a valid file
+        if os.path.isfile(args_config_file):
+            return args_config_file
+        else:
+            # Not a valid file
+            print(f"Config file specified with '--config {args_config_file}' not found.")
+            sys.exit(1)
+    elif os.path.isfile(os.path.join(user_config_file)):  # (2) User config file
+        return user_config_file
+    else:  # (3) System config file (default if nothing else is found)
+        return system_config_file
+
+
 def get_config(config_file=""):
     if not hasattr(get_config, "config"):
         get_config.config = configparser.ConfigParser()