diff --git a/main/Main.hs b/main/Main.hs
index f0fe92de15..690e7b4974 100644
--- a/main/Main.hs
+++ b/main/Main.hs
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ import           PostgREST.DbStructure
 import           Control.Monad
 import           Data.Monoid                          ((<>))
 import           Data.String.Conversions              (cs)
+import           Data.Text                            (stripPrefix,
+                                                       pack, unpack)
 import qualified Hasql.Query                          as H
 import qualified Hasql.Session                        as H
 import qualified Hasql.Decoders                       as HD
@@ -22,7 +24,6 @@ import           Network.Wai.Handler.Warp
 import           System.IO                            (BufferMode (..),
                                                        hSetBuffering, stderr,
                                                        stdin, stdout)
-import           Web.JWT                              (secret)
 import           Data.IORef
 #ifndef mingw32_HOST_OS
 import           Control.Monad.IO.Class               (liftIO)
@@ -46,14 +47,14 @@ main = do
   hSetBuffering stdin  LineBuffering
   hSetBuffering stderr NoBuffering
 
-  conf <- readOptions
+  conf <- loadSecretFile =<< readOptions
   let port = configPort conf
       pgSettings = cs (configDatabase conf)
       appSettings = setPort port
                   . setServerName (cs $ "postgrest/" <> prettyVersion)
                   $ defaultSettings
 
-  unless (secret "secret" /= configJwtSecret conf) $
+  unless ("secret" /= configJwtSecret conf) $
     putStrLn "WARNING, running in insecure mode, JWT secret is the default value"
   Prelude.putStrLn $ "Listening on port " ++
     (show $ configPort conf :: String)
@@ -85,3 +86,11 @@ main = do
 #endif
 
   runSettings appSettings $ postgrest conf refDbStructure pool
+
+loadSecretFile :: AppConfig -> IO AppConfig
+loadSecretFile conf = do
+  let s = configJwtSecret conf
+  real <- case stripPrefix "@" s of
+            Nothing -> return s -- the string is the secret, not a filename
+            Just filename -> pack <$> readFile ( unpack filename )
+  return conf { configJwtSecret = real }
diff --git a/src/PostgREST/App.hs b/src/PostgREST/App.hs
index 3b9f2f7b7d..6c9762b139 100644
--- a/src/PostgREST/App.hs
+++ b/src/PostgREST/App.hs
@@ -25,9 +25,10 @@ import           Text.ParserCombinators.Parsec (parse)
 
 import           Network.HTTP.Types.Header
 import           Network.HTTP.Types.Status
-import           Network.HTTP.Types.URI (renderSimpleQuery)
+import           Network.HTTP.Types.URI    (renderSimpleQuery)
 import           Network.Wai
 import           Network.Wai.Middleware.RequestLogger (logStdout)
+import           Web.JWT                   (secret)
 
 import           Data.Aeson
 import           Data.Aeson.Types (emptyArray)
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ postgrest conf refDbStructure pool =
 
     let schema = cs $ configSchema conf
         apiRequest = userApiRequest schema req body
-        eClaims = jwtClaims (configJwtSecret conf) (iJWT apiRequest) time
+        eClaims = jwtClaims (secret $ configJwtSecret conf) (iJWT apiRequest) time
         authed = containsRole eClaims
         handleReq = runWithClaims conf eClaims (app dbStructure conf) apiRequest
         txMode = transactionMode $ iAction apiRequest
@@ -192,7 +193,7 @@ app dbStructure conf apiRequest =
       if exists
         then do
           let p = V.head payload
-              jwtSecret = configJwtSecret conf
+              jwtSecret = secret $ configJwtSecret conf
           respondToRange $ do
             row <- H.query () (callProc qi p topLevelRange shouldCount)
             returnJWT <- H.query qi doesProcReturnJWT
diff --git a/src/PostgREST/Config.hs b/src/PostgREST/Config.hs
index 1f317c1bbc..8f3d1ba7a4 100644
--- a/src/PostgREST/Config.hs
+++ b/src/PostgREST/Config.hs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8       as BS
 import qualified Data.CaseInsensitive        as CI
 import           Data.List                   (intercalate)
 import           Data.String.Conversions     (cs)
-import           Data.Text                   (strip)
+import           Data.Text                   (Text, pack, strip)
 import           Data.Version                (versionBranch)
 import           Network.Wai
 import           Network.Wai.Middleware.Cors (CorsResourcePolicy (..))
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ import           Options.Applicative
 import           Paths_postgrest             (version)
 import           Prelude
 import           Safe                        (readMay)
-import           Web.JWT                     (Secret, secret)
 
 -- | Data type to store all command line options
 data AppConfig = AppConfig {
@@ -40,7 +39,7 @@ data AppConfig = AppConfig {
   , configAnonRole  :: String
   , configSchema    :: String
   , configPort      :: Int
-  , configJwtSecret :: Secret
+  , configJwtSecret :: Text
   , configPool      :: Int
   , configMaxRows   :: Maybe Integer
   , configQuiet     :: Bool
@@ -52,8 +51,7 @@ argParser = AppConfig
   <*> strOption    (long "anonymous"  <> short 'a' <> help "(REQUIRED) postgres role to use for non-authenticated requests" <> metavar "ROLE")
   <*> strOption    (long "schema"     <> short 's' <> help "schema to use for API routes" <> metavar "NAME" <> value "public" <> showDefault)
   <*> option auto  (long "port"       <> short 'p' <> help "port number on which to run HTTP server" <> metavar "PORT" <> value 3000 <> showDefault)
-  <*> (secret . cs <$>
-      strOption    (long "jwt-secret" <> short 'j' <> help "secret used to encrypt and decrypt JWT tokens" <> metavar "SECRET" <> value "secret" <> showDefault))
+  <*> (pack <$> strOption (long "jwt-secret" <> short 'j' <> help "secret used to encrypt and decrypt JWT tokens" <> metavar "SECRET" <> value "secret" <> showDefault))
   <*> option auto  (long "pool"       <> short 'o' <> help "max connections in database pool" <> metavar "COUNT" <> value 10 <> showDefault)
   <*> (readMay <$> strOption  (long "max-rows"   <> short 'm' <> help "max rows in response" <> metavar "COUNT" <> value "infinity" <> showDefault))
   <*> pure False