diff --git a/docs/changelog-fragments/479.feature.rst b/docs/changelog-fragments/479.feature.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..41a315471
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog-fragments/479.feature.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Implemented reading connection details from a config file -- by :user:`donnerhacke`.
diff --git a/src/pylibsshext/includes/libssh.pxd b/src/pylibsshext/includes/libssh.pxd
index 8862220d5..bf90aed0c 100644
--- a/src/pylibsshext/includes/libssh.pxd
+++ b/src/pylibsshext/includes/libssh.pxd
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ cdef extern from "libssh/libssh.h" nogil:
     int ssh_options_get(ssh_session session, ssh_options_e type, char **value)
     int ssh_options_get_port(ssh_session session, unsigned int * port_target)
     int ssh_options_set(ssh_session session, ssh_options_e type, const void *value)
+    int ssh_options_parse_config(ssh_session session, const char *filename)
 
     int ssh_get_server_publickey(ssh_session session, ssh_key *key)
     void ssh_key_free(ssh_key key)
diff --git a/src/pylibsshext/session.pyx b/src/pylibsshext/session.pyx
index 294827c80..77f899a18 100644
--- a/src/pylibsshext/session.pyx
+++ b/src/pylibsshext/session.pyx
@@ -243,6 +243,16 @@ cdef class Session(object):
             if (key in OPTS_MAP or key in OPTS_DIR_MAP) and (kwargs[key] is not None):
                 self.set_ssh_options(key, kwargs[key])
 
+        if 'config_file' in kwargs:
+            file_name = kwargs['config_file']
+            rc = libssh.ssh_options_parse_config(self._libssh_session, file_name.encode())
+            if rc != libssh.SSH_OK or self._get_session_error_str() != "":
+                libssh.ssh_disconnect(self._libssh_session)
+                raise LibsshSessionException(
+                    "parsing ssh config failed: %s: %s" %
+                    (file_name, self._get_session_error_str())
+                )
+
         if libssh.ssh_connect(self._libssh_session) != libssh.SSH_OK:
             libssh.ssh_disconnect(self._libssh_session)
             raise LibsshSessionException("ssh connect failed: %s" % self._get_session_error_str())