diff --git a/docs/sys-info.rst b/docs/sys-info.rst
--- a/docs/sys-info.rst
+++ b/docs/sys-info.rst
@@ -41,8 +41,9 @@
 
 .. code:: shell
 
-    SWH_CONFIG_FILENAME=/etc/softwareheritage/deposit/server.yml \
-    swh-deposit --platform production \
+    swh-deposit \
+        --config-file /etc/softwareheritage/deposit/server.yml \
+        --platform production \
         user create \
         --collection <collection-name> \
         --username <client-name> \
@@ -53,8 +54,9 @@
 access to the deposit api.
 
 Note:
-  - If the collection does not exist, it is created alongside.
+  - If the collection does not exist, it is created alongside
   - The password is plain text but stored encrypted (so yes, for now
     we know the user's password)
-  - A production requirement for the cli to work is to set the
-    SWH_CONFIG_FILENAME environment variable
+  - For production platform, you must either set an
+    SWH_CONFIG_FILENAME environment variable or pass alongside the
+    `--config-file` parameter
diff --git a/swh/deposit/cli.py b/swh/deposit/cli.py
--- a/swh/deposit/cli.py
+++ b/swh/deposit/cli.py
@@ -12,12 +12,15 @@
 
 
 @click.group(context_settings=CONTEXT_SETTINGS)
+@click.option('--config-file', '-C', default=None,
+              type=click.Path(exists=True, dir_okay=False,),
+              help="Optional extra configuration file.")
 @click.option('--platform', default='development',
               type=click.Choice(['development', 'production']),
               help='development or production platform')
 @click.pass_context
-def cli(ctx, platform):
-    setup_django_for(platform)
+def cli(ctx, config_file, platform):
+    setup_django_for(platform, config_file=config_file)
 
 
 @cli.group('user')
diff --git a/swh/deposit/config.py b/swh/deposit/config.py
--- a/swh/deposit/config.py
+++ b/swh/deposit/config.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
 }
 
 
-def setup_django_for(platform):
+def setup_django_for(platform, config_file=None):
     """Setup function for command line tools (swh.deposit.create_user) to
        initialize the needed db access.
 
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@
 
     Args:
         platform (str): the platform the scheduling is running
+        config_file (str): Extra configuration file (typically for the
+                           production platform)
 
     Raises:
         ValueError in case of wrong platform inputs.
@@ -68,6 +70,9 @@
     os.environ.setdefault('DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE',
                           'swh.deposit.settings.%s' % platform)
 
+    if config_file:
+        os.environ.setdefault('SWH_CONFIG_FILENAME', config_file)
+
     import django
     django.setup()