diff --git a/cmd/spoof-dpi/main.go b/cmd/spoof-dpi/main.go
index 7f1cd0e..50ad70c 100644
--- a/cmd/spoof-dpi/main.go
+++ b/cmd/spoof-dpi/main.go
@@ -13,14 +13,16 @@ import (
 )
 
 func main() {
-  args := util.ParseArgs()
+	args := util.ParseArgs()
 	if *args.Version {
 		version.PrintVersion()
 		os.Exit(0)
 	}
 
 	config := util.GetConfig()
-  config.Load(args)
+	if err := config.Load(args); err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("loading config: %s", err)
+	}
 
 	pxy := proxy.New(config)
 	if *config.Debug {
diff --git a/util/args.go b/util/args.go
index d5b4230..2384968 100644
--- a/util/args.go
+++ b/util/args.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ type Args struct {
 	SystemProxy    *bool
 	Timeout        *int
 	AllowedPattern *StringArray
+	PatternFile    *string
 	WindowSize     *int
 	Version        *bool
 }
@@ -47,14 +48,20 @@ try lower values if the default value doesn't bypass the DPI;
 when not given, the client hello packet will be sent in two parts:
 fragmentation for the first data packet and the rest
 `)
-  args.AllowedPattern = new(StringArray)
-	args.Version = flag.Bool("v", false, "print spoof-dpi's version; this may contain some other relevant information")
 
+	args.AllowedPattern = new(StringArray)
 	flag.Var(
 		args.AllowedPattern,
 		"pattern",
 		"bypass DPI only on packets matching this regex pattern; can be given multiple times",
 	)
+	args.PatternFile = flag.String(
+		"pattern-file",
+		"",
+		"bypass DPI only on packets matching regex patterns provided in a file (one per line)",
+	)
+
+	args.Version = flag.Bool("v", false, "print spoof-dpi's version; this may contain some other relevant information")
 
 	flag.Parse()
 
diff --git a/util/config.go b/util/config.go
index 6e5e9a0..47b359a 100644
--- a/util/config.go
+++ b/util/config.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func GetConfig() *Config {
 	return config
 }
 
-func (c *Config) Load(args *Args) {
+func (c *Config) Load(args *Args) error {
 	c.Addr = args.Addr
 	c.Port = args.Port
 	c.DnsAddr = args.DnsAddr
@@ -41,18 +41,40 @@ func (c *Config) Load(args *Args) {
 	c.NoBanner = args.NoBanner
 	c.SystemProxy = args.SystemProxy
 	c.Timeout = args.Timeout
-	c.AllowedPatterns = parseAllowedPattern(args.AllowedPattern)
 	c.WindowSize = args.WindowSize
+
+	patterns, err := parseAllowedPattern(args.AllowedPattern, *args.PatternFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("parsing patterns: %w", err)
+	}
+	c.AllowedPatterns = patterns
+
+	return nil
 }
 
-func parseAllowedPattern(patterns *StringArray) []*regexp.Regexp {
-	var allowedPatterns []*regexp.Regexp
+func parseAllowedPattern(patterns *StringArray, filePath string) ([]*regexp.Regexp, error) {
+	patternSet := make(map[*regexp.Regexp]struct{})
 
-	for _, pattern := range *patterns {
-		allowedPatterns = append(allowedPatterns, regexp.MustCompile(pattern))
+	filePatterns, err := loadPatternsFromFile(filePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("loading patterns from file: %w", err)
+	}
+	for _, pattern := range filePatterns {
+		patternSet[pattern] = struct{}{}
 	}
 
-	return allowedPatterns
+	for _, rawPattern := range *patterns {
+		pattern := regexp.MustCompile(rawPattern)
+		patternSet[pattern] = struct{}{}
+	}
+
+	allowedPatterns := make([]*regexp.Regexp, len(patternSet))
+	writeI := 0
+	for pattern := range patternSet {
+		allowedPatterns[writeI] = pattern
+		writeI++
+	}
+	return allowedPatterns, nil
 }
 
 func PrintColoredBanner() {
diff --git a/util/file.go b/util/file.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22854ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/file.go
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package util
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"regexp"
+)
+
+func loadPatternsFromFile(path string) ([]*regexp.Regexp, error) {
+	if path == "" {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	path, err := filepath.Abs(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("pattern file path: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	file, err := os.Open(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("opening pattern file: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		if e := file.Close(); e != nil && err == nil {
+			err = e
+		}
+	}()
+
+	var patterns []*regexp.Regexp
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(file)
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		pattern := regexp.MustCompile(scanner.Text())
+		patterns = append(patterns, pattern)
+	}
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("parsing pattern file: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return patterns, nil
+}