diff --git a/cmd/khepri/.gitignore b/cmd/khepri/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aee2e4ce1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/khepri/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+config.mk
diff --git a/cmd/khepri/Makefile b/cmd/khepri/Makefile
index cad3f7917..66819e525 100644
--- a/cmd/khepri/Makefile
+++ b/cmd/khepri/Makefile
@@ -6,12 +6,15 @@ TAGS =
 
 .PHONY: all clean debug
 
+# include config file if it exists
+-include $(CURDIR)/config.mk
+
 all: khepri
 
 khepri: *.go $(wildcard ../../*.go) $(wildcard ../../*/*.go)
 	go build $(TAGS) -ldflags "$(LDFLAGS)"
 
-debug: TAGS=-tags debug
+debug: TAGS=-tags debug_cmd
 debug: khepri
 
 clean: