diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index cb1df58..c7e2ae2 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/PullRequestInc/go-gpt3"
 	"github.com/kirsle/configdir"
@@ -77,6 +78,7 @@ func (c *config) Write() error {
 }
 
 func ReadConfig(fileName string) (config, error) {
+	fileName = strings.TrimSpace(fileName)
 	if fileName == "" {
 		fileName = defaultConfigFilename
 	}
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 542b4c4..8ade9b2 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ type mainCmd struct {
 	Ask        *askCmd    `arg:"subcommand"`
 	Config     *configCmd `arg:"subcommand"`
 	Chat       *chatCmd   `arg:"subcommand"`
-	ConfigName string     `arg:"-c,--config" help:"name of the configuration set"`
+	ConfigName string     `arg:"-c,--config,env:HLP_CONFIG" help:"name of the configuration set"`
 }
 
 func (args *mainCmd) SetupConfig() (config, error) {