diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 751ba6a9f239..dce35b54c718 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ LABEL maintainer="Steven Allen <steven@stebalien.com>"
 ENV SRC_DIR /go-ipfs
 COPY --from=0 $SRC_DIR/cmd/ipfs/ipfs /usr/local/bin/ipfs
 COPY --from=0 $SRC_DIR/bin/container_daemon /usr/local/bin/start_ipfs
+COPY --from=0 $SRC_DIR/bin/container_init_run /usr/local/bin/container_init_run
 COPY --from=0 /tmp/su-exec/su-exec-static /sbin/su-exec
 COPY --from=0 /tmp/tini /sbin/tini
 COPY --from=0 /bin/fusermount /usr/local/bin/fusermount
@@ -93,6 +94,10 @@ RUN mkdir -p $IPFS_PATH \
 RUN mkdir /ipfs /ipns \
   && chown ipfs:users /ipfs /ipns
 
+# Create the init scripts directory
+RUN mkdir /container-init.d \
+  && chown ipfs:users /container-init.d
+
 # Expose the fs-repo as a volume.
 # start_ipfs initializes an fs-repo if none is mounted.
 # Important this happens after the USER directive so permissions are correct.
diff --git a/bin/container_daemon b/bin/container_daemon
index 8fe429036a73..ae8725be5dba 100755
--- a/bin/container_daemon
+++ b/bin/container_daemon
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -e
+
 user=ipfs
 repo="$IPFS_PATH"
 
-if [ `id -u` -eq 0 ]; then
+if [ "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ]; then
   echo "Changing user to $user"
   # ensure folder is writable
   su-exec "$user" test -w "$repo" || chown -R -- "$user" "$repo"
@@ -14,14 +15,11 @@ fi
 # 2nd invocation with regular user
 ipfs version
 
+
 if [ -e "$repo/config" ]; then
   echo "Found IPFS fs-repo at $repo"
 else
-  case "$IPFS_PROFILE" in
-    "") INIT_ARGS="" ;;
-    *) INIT_ARGS="--profile=$IPFS_PROFILE" ;;
-  esac
-  ipfs init $INIT_ARGS
+  ipfs init ${IPFS_PROFILE:+"--profile=$IPFS_PROFILE"}
   ipfs config Addresses.API /ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/5001
   ipfs config Addresses.Gateway /ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/8080
 
@@ -31,9 +29,9 @@ else
   SWARM_KEY_PERM=0400
 
   # Create a swarm key from a given environment variable
-  if [ ! -z "$IPFS_SWARM_KEY" ] ; then
+  if [ -n "$IPFS_SWARM_KEY" ] ; then
     echo "Copying swarm key from variable..."
-    echo -e "$IPFS_SWARM_KEY" >"$SWARM_KEY_FILE" || exit 1
+    printf "%s\n" "$IPFS_SWARM_KEY" >"$SWARM_KEY_FILE" || exit 1
     chmod $SWARM_KEY_PERM "$SWARM_KEY_FILE"
   fi
 
@@ -43,14 +41,15 @@ else
   # Check during initialization if a swarm key was provided and
   # copy it to the ipfs directory with the right permissions
   # WARNING: This will replace the swarm key if it exists
-  if [ ! -z "$IPFS_SWARM_KEY_FILE" ] ; then
+  if [ -n "$IPFS_SWARM_KEY_FILE" ] ; then
     echo "Copying swarm key from file..."
     install -m $SWARM_KEY_PERM "$IPFS_SWARM_KEY_FILE" "$SWARM_KEY_FILE" || exit 1
   fi
 
   # Unset the swarm key file variable
   unset IPFS_SWARM_KEY_FILE
-
 fi
 
+find /container-init.d -maxdepth 1 -type f -iname '*.sh' -print0 | sort -z | xargs -n 1 -0 -r container_init_run
+
 exec ipfs "$@"
diff --git a/bin/container_init_run b/bin/container_init_run
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..9d20660ccfd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/container_init_run
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -e
+
+# used by the container startup script for running initialization scripts
+
+script="$1"
+if [ -x "$script" ] ; then
+    printf "Executing '%s'...\n" "$script"
+    "$script"
+else
+    printf "Sourcing '%s'...\n" "$script"
+    . "$script"
+fi
diff --git a/test/ipfs-test-lib.sh b/test/ipfs-test-lib.sh
index 960cf7caa868..eabf17020d22 100644
--- a/test/ipfs-test-lib.sh
+++ b/test/ipfs-test-lib.sh
@@ -70,6 +70,16 @@ docker_stop() {
     docker stop "$1"
 }
 
+# This takes a docker ID as argument
+docker_rm() {
+    docker rm -f -v "$1" > /dev/null
+}
+
+# This takes a docker image name as argument
+docker_rmi() {
+    docker rmi -f "$1" > /dev/null
+}
+
 # Test whether all the expected lines are included in a file. The file
 # can have extra lines.
 #
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0300-docker-image.sh b/test/sharness/t0300-docker-image.sh
index 2a25dd28406a..a3a802b287fb 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0300-docker-image.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0300-docker-image.sh
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ TEST_TESTS_DIR=$(dirname "$TEST_SCRIPTS_DIR")
 APP_ROOT_DIR=$(dirname "$TEST_TESTS_DIR")
 
 test_expect_success "docker image build succeeds" '
-  docker_build "$TEST_TESTS_DIR/../Dockerfile" "$APP_ROOT_DIR" >build-actual ||
+  docker_build "$TEST_TESTS_DIR/../Dockerfile" "$APP_ROOT_DIR" | tee build-actual ||
   test_fsh echo "TEST_TESTS_DIR: $TEST_TESTS_DIR" ||
   test_fsh echo "APP_ROOT_DIR : $APP_ROOT_DIR" ||
   test_fsh cat build-actual
@@ -41,8 +41,18 @@ test_expect_success "docker image build output looks good" '
   test_fsh cat build-actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success "write init scripts" '
+  echo "ipfs config Foo Bar" > 001.sh &&
+  echo "ipfs config Baz Qux" > 002.sh &&
+  chmod +x 002.sh
+'
+
 test_expect_success "docker image runs" '
-  DOC_ID=$(docker run -d -p 127.0.0.1:5001:5001 -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 "$IMAGE_ID")
+  DOC_ID=$(docker run -d \
+                  -p 127.0.0.1:5001:5001 -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 \
+                  -v "$PWD/001.sh":/container-init.d/001.sh \
+                  -v "$PWD/002.sh":/container-init.d/002.sh \
+                  "$IMAGE_ID")
 '
 
 test_expect_success "docker container gateway is up" '
@@ -53,6 +63,21 @@ test_expect_success "docker container API is up" '
   pollEndpoint -host=/ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/5001 -http-url http://localhost:5001/version -v -tries 30 -tout 1s
 '
 
+test_expect_success "check that init scripts were run correctly and in the correct order" "
+  echo -e \"Sourcing '/container-init.d/001.sh'...\nExecuting '/container-init.d/002.sh'...\" > expected &&
+  docker logs $DOC_ID 2>/dev/null | grep -e 001.sh -e 002.sh > actual &&
+  test_cmp actual expected
+"
+
+test_expect_success "check that init script configs were applied" '
+  echo Bar > expected &&
+  docker exec "$DOC_ID" ipfs config Foo > actual &&
+  test_cmp actual expected &&
+  echo Qux > expected &&
+  docker exec "$DOC_ID" ipfs config Baz > actual &&
+  test_cmp actual expected
+'
+
 test_expect_success "simple ipfs add/cat can be run in docker container" '
   expected="Hello Worlds" &&
   HASH=$(docker_exec "$DOC_ID" "echo $(cat expected) | ipfs add | cut -d' ' -f2") &&
@@ -74,5 +99,7 @@ test_expect_success "stop docker container" '
   docker_stop "$DOC_ID"
 '
 
+docker_rm "$DOC_ID"
+docker_rmi "$IMAGE_ID"
 test_done
 
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0301-docker-migrate.sh b/test/sharness/t0301-docker-migrate.sh
index 4fb9ab155e4b..3f7d32f214b1 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0301-docker-migrate.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0301-docker-migrate.sh
@@ -77,5 +77,7 @@ test_expect_success "correct version was requested" '
   grep "/fs-repo-6-to-7/v1.1.1/fs-repo-6-to-7_v1.1.1_linux-amd64.tar.gz" dist_serv_out > /dev/null
 '
 
+docker_rm "$DOC_ID"
+docker_rmi "$IMAGE_ID"
 test_done