diff --git a/lib/config/config-file.js b/lib/config/config-file.js
index f101d8ff..3ae3c1d1 100644
--- a/lib/config/config-file.js
+++ b/lib/config/config-file.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 const fs = require('fs')
+const path = require('path')
 const _ = require('lodash')
 const { cosmiconfigSync } = require('cosmiconfig')
 const { ConfigMissingError } = require('../common/errors')
@@ -64,8 +65,15 @@ const loadConfig = (configFile) => {
   return searchedFor.config || createEmptyConfig()
 }
 
-const configGetter = (path) =>
-  path.startsWith('solhint:') ? getSolhintCoreConfig(path) : require(`solhint-config-${path}`)
+const isAbsolute = path.isAbsolute
+const configGetter = (path) => {
+  if (isAbsolute(path)) {
+    return require(path)
+  }
+  return path.startsWith('solhint:')
+    ? getSolhintCoreConfig(path)
+    : require(`solhint-config-${path}`)
+}
 
 const applyExtends = (config, getter = configGetter) => {
   if (!config.extends) {