diff --git a/debtree b/debtree
index 81aa7ba..5f09719 100755
--- a/debtree
+++ b/debtree
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@ my $max_depth = 999999;
 my $rdeps_depth = 0;
 my $max_rdeps=5;
 my $no_skip = 0;
+my $skiplist_file = "";
+my $endlist_file = "";
 my $show_all = 0;
 my $do_rotate = 0;
 my $do_condense = 0;
@@ -89,6 +91,8 @@ GetOptions(
 	'rdeps-depth=i'			=> \$rdeps_depth,
 	'max-rdeps=i'			=> \$max_rdeps,
 	'skip!'				=> \$no_skip,
+        'skiplist-file=s'               => \$skiplist_file,
+        'endlist-file=s'                => \$endlist_file,
 	'show-all'			=> \$show_all,
 	'rotate|r'			=> \$do_rotate,
 	'condense'			=> \$do_condense,
@@ -1155,7 +1159,7 @@ sub process_package {
 #   to determine their dependencies
 if (! $show_all) {
 	my $file;
-	for $file ("$HOME/.debtree/skiplist", "/etc/debtree/skiplist") {
+	for $file ($skiplist_file, "$HOME/.debtree/skiplist", "/etc/debtree/skiplist") {
 		if (-r $file) {
 			info(3, "Using list of 'skip' packages from $file");
 			if (! $no_skip) {
@@ -1167,7 +1171,7 @@ if (! $show_all) {
 			last;
 		}
 	}
-	for $file ("$HOME/.debtree/endlist", "/etc/debtree/endlist") {
+	for $file ($endlist_file, "$HOME/.debtree/endlist", "/etc/debtree/endlist") {
 		if (-r $file) {
 			info(3, "Using list of 'end' packages from $file");
 			import_list($file, "end");
diff --git a/debtree.1 b/debtree.1
index 9966acc..21a6aec 100644
--- a/debtree.1
+++ b/debtree.1
@@ -210,6 +210,16 @@ This means that dependencies that by default are not included in graphs, will
 now be shown, but their dependencies will not. See also the section CONFIGURATION
 below.
 
+.IP "\fB\-\-skiplist\-file\fP=\fIfilename\fP"
+Load the lists of \fIskip packages\fP from the named file. This will override
+the contents of /etc/debtree/skiplist and ~/.debtree/skiplist. See also the
+section CONFIGURATION below.
+
+.IP "\fB\-\-endlist\-file\fP=\fIfilename\fP"
+Load the lists of \fIend packages\fP from the named file. This will override
+the contents of /etc/debtree/endlist and ~/.debtree/endlist. See also the
+section CONFIGURATION below.
+
 .IP "\fB\-\-show\-all\fP"
 Display the full dependency tree.
 
@@ -270,6 +280,11 @@ just too big or complex.
 If a list is present under the HOME directory of the user, that file will be used
 instead of the default file in /etc/debtree/.
 .PP
+Both the \fIskip packages\fP and \fIend packages\fP list can also be specified
+using the \-\-skiplist\-file and \-\-endlist\-file options.  The contents of
+these files will be used instead of the respective file in /etc/debtree and
+~/.debtree.
+.PP
 See also the options \-\-no\-skip, \-\-show\-all and \-\-max\-depth.
 
 .SH EXAMPLES