diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e33a80ec5..f277465a4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ markdownlint --help
     -s, --stdin                                 read from STDIN (does not work with files)
     -o, --output [outputFile]                   write issues to file (no console)
     -c, --config [configFile]                   configuration file (JSON, JSONC, or YAML)
-    -i, --ignore [file|directory|glob]          files to ignore/exclude
+    -i, --ignore [file|directory|glob]          file(s) to ignore/exclude
+    -p, --ignore-path [file]                    path to file with ignore pattern(s)
     -r, --rules  [file|directory|glob|package]  custom rule files
 ```
 
@@ -46,13 +47,14 @@ Linux Bash: `markdownlint '**/*.md' --ignore node_modules`
 
 ### Ignoring files
 
-If present in the current folder, a `.markdownlintignore` file will be used to ignore files and /or directories according to the rules for [gitignore][gitignore].
+If present in the current folder, a `.markdownlintignore` file will be used to ignore files and/or directories according to the rules for [gitignore][gitignore].
+If the `-p`/`--ignore-path` option is present, the specified file will be used instead of `.markdownlintignore`.
 
 The order of operations is:
 
-- Enumerate files/directories/globs on the command line
-- Apply exclusions from `.markdownlintignore`
-- Apply exclusions from `-i`/`--ignore` option(s)
+- Enumerate files/directories/globs passed on the command line
+- Apply exclusions from `-p`/`--ignore-path` (if specified) or `.markdownlintignore` (if present)
+- Apply exclusions from any `-i`/`--ignore` option(s) that are specified
 
 ### Fixing errors
 
diff --git a/markdownlint.js b/markdownlint.js
index 59b853113..29ccb59db 100755
--- a/markdownlint.js
+++ b/markdownlint.js
@@ -170,7 +170,8 @@ program
   .option('-s, --stdin', 'read from STDIN (does not work with files)')
   .option('-o, --output [outputFile]', 'write issues to file (no console)')
   .option('-c, --config [configFile]', 'configuration file (JSON, JSONC, or YAML)')
-  .option('-i, --ignore [file|directory|glob]', 'files to ignore/exclude', concatArray, [])
+  .option('-i, --ignore [file|directory|glob]', 'file(s) to ignore/exclude', concatArray, [])
+  .option('-p, --ignore-path [file]', 'path to file with ignore pattern(s)')
   .option('-r, --rules  [file|directory|glob|package]', 'custom rule files', concatArray, []);
 
 program.parse(process.argv);
@@ -216,10 +217,16 @@ function loadCustomRules(rules) {
   }));
 }
 
-const markdownlintIgnore = '.markdownlintignore';
+let ignorePath = '.markdownlintignore';
+let {existsSync} = fs;
+if (program.ignorePath) {
+  ignorePath = program.ignorePath;
+  existsSync = () => true;
+}
+
 let ignoreFilter = () => true;
-if (fs.existsSync(markdownlintIgnore)) {
-  const ignoreText = fs.readFileSync(markdownlintIgnore, fsOptions);
+if (existsSync(ignorePath)) {
+  const ignoreText = fs.readFileSync(ignorePath, fsOptions);
   const ignoreInstance = ignore().add(ignoreText);
   ignoreFilter = fileInfo => !ignoreInstance.ignores(fileInfo.original);
 }
diff --git a/test/markdownlintignore/.ignorefile b/test/markdownlintignore/.ignorefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2fc73783b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/markdownlintignore/.ignorefile
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+**/*.md
+subdir/*
diff --git a/test/test.js b/test/test.js
index 950a4c383..9acfc6005 100644
--- a/test/test.js
+++ b/test/test.js
@@ -645,3 +645,57 @@ test('.markdownlintignore is applied correctly', async t => {
     t.deepEqual(error.stderr, expected);
   }
 });
+
+test('--ignore-path works with .markdownlintignore', async t => {
+  try {
+    await execa(
+      path.resolve('..', 'markdownlint.js'), ['--ignore-path', '.markdownlintignore', '.'], {
+        cwd: path.join(__dirname, 'markdownlintignore'),
+        stripFinalNewline: false
+      });
+    t.fail();
+  } catch (error) {
+    const expected = [
+      'incorrect.md:1 MD047/single-trailing-newline Files should end with a single newline character',
+      'subdir/incorrect.markdown:1 MD047/single-trailing-newline Files should end with a single newline character',
+      ''
+    ].join('\n');
+    t.deepEqual(error.stdout, '');
+    t.deepEqual(error.stderr, expected);
+  }
+});
+
+test('--ignore-path works with .ignorefile', async t => {
+  try {
+    await execa(
+      path.resolve('..', 'markdownlint.js'), ['--ignore-path', '.ignorefile', '.'], {
+        cwd: path.join(__dirname, 'markdownlintignore'),
+        stripFinalNewline: false
+      });
+    t.fail();
+  } catch (error) {
+    const expected = [
+      'incorrect.markdown:1 MD047/single-trailing-newline Files should end with a single newline character',
+      ''
+    ].join('\n');
+    t.deepEqual(error.stdout, '');
+    t.deepEqual(error.stderr, expected);
+  }
+});
+
+test('--ignore-path fails for missing file', async t => {
+  const missingFile = 'missing-file';
+  try {
+    await execa(
+      path.resolve('..', 'markdownlint.js'),
+      ['--ignore-path', missingFile, '.'], {
+        cwd: path.join(__dirname, 'markdownlintignore'),
+        stripFinalNewline: false
+      }
+    );
+    t.fail();
+  } catch (error) {
+    t.deepEqual(error.stdout, '');
+    t.true(/ENOENT.*no such file or directory/i.test(error.stderr));
+  }
+});