diff --git a/tools/compose.c b/tools/compose.c
index f18c3f90..8803fa86 100644
--- a/tools/compose.c
+++ b/tools/compose.c
@@ -36,9 +36,10 @@ static void
 usage(FILE *fp, char *progname)
 {
     fprintf(fp,
-            "Usage: %s [--locale LOCALE | --locale-from-env | --locale-from-setlocale]\n",
+            "Usage: %s [--file FILE] [--locale LOCALE | --locale-from-env | --locale-from-setlocale]\n",
             progname);
     fprintf(fp,
+            "   --file - specify a file to load\n"
             "   --locale - specify the locale directly\n"
             "   --locale-from-env - get the locale from the LC_ALL/LC_CTYPE/LANG environment variables (falling back to C)\n"
             "   --locale-from-setlocale - get the locale using setlocale(3)\n"
@@ -78,12 +79,17 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
     struct xkb_context *ctx = NULL;
     struct xkb_compose_table *compose_table = NULL;
     const char *locale = NULL;
+    const char *path = NULL;
+    /* TODO: add option */
+    enum xkb_compose_format format = XKB_COMPOSE_FORMAT_TEXT_V1;
     enum options {
+        OPT_FILE,
         OPT_LOCALE,
         OPT_LOCALE_FROM_ENV,
         OPT_LOCALE_FROM_SETLOCALE,
     };
     static struct option opts[] = {
+        {"file",                  required_argument,      0, OPT_FILE},
         {"locale",                required_argument,      0, OPT_LOCALE},
         {"locale-from-env",       no_argument,            0, OPT_LOCALE_FROM_ENV},
         {"locale-from-setlocale", no_argument,            0, OPT_LOCALE_FROM_SETLOCALE},
@@ -101,6 +107,9 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
             break;
 
         switch (opt) {
+        case OPT_FILE:
+            path = optarg;
+            break;
         case OPT_LOCALE:
             locale = optarg;
             break;
@@ -135,14 +144,31 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
         goto out;
     }
 
-    compose_table =
-        xkb_compose_table_new_from_locale(ctx, locale,
-                                          XKB_COMPOSE_COMPILE_NO_FLAGS);
-    if (!compose_table) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Couldn't create compose from locale\n");
-        goto out;
+    if (path != NULL) {
+        FILE *file = fopen(path, "rb");
+        if (file == NULL) {
+            perror(path);
+            goto file_error;
+        }
+        compose_table =
+            xkb_compose_table_new_from_file(ctx, file, locale, format,
+                                            XKB_COMPOSE_COMPILE_NO_FLAGS);
+        fclose(file);
+        if (!compose_table) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "Couldn't create compose from file: %s\n", path);
+            goto out;
+        }
+    } else {
+        compose_table =
+            xkb_compose_table_new_from_locale(ctx, locale,
+                                              XKB_COMPOSE_COMPILE_NO_FLAGS);
+        if (!compose_table) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "Couldn't create compose from locale\n");
+            goto out;
+        }
     }
 
+
     struct xkb_compose_table_iterator *iter = xkb_compose_table_iterator_new(compose_table);
     while (xkb_compose_table_iterator_next(iter)) {
         compose_table_print_cb(xkb_compose_table_iterator_current(iter), NULL);
@@ -151,6 +177,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 out:
     xkb_compose_table_unref(compose_table);
+file_error:
     xkb_context_unref(ctx);
 
     return ret;