diff --git a/tools/syz-symbolize/symbolize.go b/tools/syz-symbolize/symbolize.go
index 922b0dd8761a..0a884119b86e 100644
--- a/tools/syz-symbolize/symbolize.go
+++ b/tools/syz-symbolize/symbolize.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ var (
 	flagKernelObj = flag.String("kernel_obj", ".", "path to kernel build/obj dir")
 	flagKernelSrc = flag.String("kernel_src", "", "path to kernel sources (defaults to kernel_obj)")
 	flagOutDir    = flag.String("outdir", "", "output directory")
+	flagConfig    = flag.String("config", "", "optional configuration file")
 )
 
 func main() {
@@ -33,11 +34,17 @@ func main() {
 		flag.PrintDefaults()
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
-	cfg, err := mgrconfig.LoadPartialData([]byte(`{
-		"kernel_obj": "` + *flagKernelObj + `",
-		"kernel_src": "` + *flagKernelSrc + `",
-		"target": "` + *flagOS + "/" + *flagArch + `"
-	}`))
+	var err error
+	cfg := &mgrconfig.Config{}
+	if *flagConfig != "" {
+		cfg, err = mgrconfig.LoadPartialFile(*flagConfig)
+	} else {
+		cfg, err = mgrconfig.LoadPartialData([]byte(`{
+			"kernel_obj": "` + *flagKernelObj + `",
+			"kernel_src": "` + *flagKernelSrc + `",
+			"target": "` + *flagOS + "/" + *flagArch + `"
+		}`))
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		tool.Fail(err)
 	}