diff --git a/lisp/startup.el b/lisp/startup.el
index d90e7a7..157b2fd 100644
--- a/lisp/startup.el
+++ b/lisp/startup.el
@@ -1410,6 +1410,13 @@ command-line
           "init.el"
           startup-init-directory))
        t)
+      ;; if the user defined the custom-file
+      (when custom-file
+          ;; make sure that you get the expanded custom-file name
+          (let* ((real-custom-file (expand-file-name custom-file)))
+            ;; if it was loaded, assoc will return non-nil
+            (unless (assoc real-custom-file load-history)
+              (load real-custom-file t))))
 
       (when (and deactivate-mark transient-mark-mode)
         (with-current-buffer (window-buffer)