diff --git a/qbittorrent_exporter/exporter.py b/qbittorrent_exporter/exporter.py
index faa5caf..d4a0220 100644
--- a/qbittorrent_exporter/exporter.py
+++ b/qbittorrent_exporter/exporter.py
@@ -165,22 +165,20 @@ class SignalHandler():
         logger.info("Exporter is shutting down")
         self.shutdown = True
 
+def get_config_value(key, default=""):
+    input_path = os.environ.get("FILE__" + key, None)
+    if input_path is not None:
+        try:
+            with open(input_path, "r") as input_file:
+                return input_file.read().strip()
+        except IOError as e:
+            logger.error(f"Unable to read value for {key} from {input_path}: {str(e)}")
+
+    return os.environ.get(key, default)
+
 
 def main():
-    config = {
-        "host": os.environ.get("QBITTORRENT_HOST", ""),
-        "port": os.environ.get("QBITTORRENT_PORT", ""),
-        "username": os.environ.get("QBITTORRENT_USER", ""),
-        "password": os.environ.get("QBITTORRENT_PASS", ""),
-        "exporter_port": int(os.environ.get("EXPORTER_PORT", "8000")),
-        "log_level": os.environ.get("EXPORTER_LOG_LEVEL", "INFO"),
-        "metrics_prefix": os.environ.get("METRICS_PREFIX", "qbittorrent"),
-    }
-
-    # Register signal handler
-    signal_handler = SignalHandler()
-
-    # Init logger
+    # Init logger so it can be used
     logHandler = logging.StreamHandler()
     formatter = jsonlogger.JsonFormatter(
         "%(asctime) %(levelname) %(message)",
@@ -189,8 +187,24 @@ def main():
     logHandler.setFormatter(formatter)
     logger = logging.getLogger()
     logger.addHandler(logHandler)
+    logger.setLevel("INFO") # default until config is loaded
+
+    config = {
+        "host": get_config_value("QBITTORRENT_HOST", ""),
+        "port": get_config_value("QBITTORRENT_PORT", ""),
+        "username": get_config_value("QBITTORRENT_USER", ""),
+        "password": get_config_value("QBITTORRENT_PASS", ""),
+        "exporter_port": int(get_config_value("EXPORTER_PORT", "8000")),
+        "log_level": get_config_value("EXPORTER_LOG_LEVEL", "INFO"),
+        "metrics_prefix": get_config_value("METRICS_PREFIX", "qbittorrent"),
+    }
+    # set level once config has been loaded
     logger.setLevel(config["log_level"])
 
+    # Register signal handler
+    signal_handler = SignalHandler()
+
+
     if not config["host"]:
         logger.error("No host specified, please set QBITTORRENT_HOST environment variable")
         sys.exit(1)