diff --git a/changelog/new.txt b/changelog/new.txt
index 2291809..2f2696c 100644
--- a/changelog/new.txt
+++ b/changelog/new.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 Changes in version x.x.x:
 
 Breaking changes:
+- config file: use-config now expects an array of config profiles to read.
 
 Bugs fixed:
 - The [[backup.sources]] section in the config file was ignored 0.5.2. This has been fixed.
diff --git a/examples/full.toml b/examples/full.toml
index 0b62397..699763a 100644
--- a/examples/full.toml
+++ b/examples/full.toml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 # Global options: These options are used for all commands. 
 [global]
-use-profile = "" 
+use-profile = [] 
 log-level = "info" # any of "off", "error", "warn", "info", "debug", "trace"; default: "info"
 log-file = "/path/to/rustic.log" # Default: not set
 no-progress = false
diff --git a/src/commands/configfile.rs b/src/commands/configfile.rs
index 1bb11a8..f0d892f 100644
--- a/src/commands/configfile.rs
+++ b/src/commands/configfile.rs
@@ -51,9 +51,8 @@ impl Config {
             let mut config: Self =
                 toml::from_str(&data).context("error reading TOML from config file")?;
             // if "use_profile" is defined in config file, merge this referenced profile first
-            if !config.global.use_profile.is_empty() {
-                let profile = config.global.use_profile.clone();
-                config.merge_profile(&profile)?;
+            for profile in &config.global.use_profile.clone() {
+                config.merge_profile(profile)?;
             }
             self.merge(config);
         } else {
diff --git a/src/commands/mod.rs b/src/commands/mod.rs
index 2ecbce6..8c85d72 100644
--- a/src/commands/mod.rs
+++ b/src/commands/mod.rs
@@ -54,16 +54,16 @@ struct Args {
 #[serde(default, rename_all = "kebab-case", deny_unknown_fields)]
 pub struct GlobalOpts {
     /// Config profile to use. This parses the file `<PROFILE>.toml` in the config directory.
+    /// [default: "rustic"]
     #[clap(
         short = 'P',
         long,
         global = true,
         value_name = "PROFILE",
-        default_value = "rustic",
         env = "RUSTIC_USE_PROFILE"
     )]
-    #[merge(skip)]
-    use_profile: String,
+    #[merge(strategy = merge::vec::append)]
+    use_profile: Vec<String>,
 
     /// Only show what would be done without modifying anything. Does not affect read-only commands
     #[clap(long, short = 'n', global = true, env = "RUSTIC_DRY_RUN")]
@@ -168,10 +168,15 @@ pub fn execute() -> Result<()> {
     let command: Vec<_> = std::env::args_os().collect();
     let args = Args::parse_from(&command);
     let mut config = args.config;
+    if config.global.use_profile.is_empty() {
+        config.global.use_profile.push("rustic".to_string());
+    }
 
     // get global options from command line / env and config file
-    let profile = config.global.use_profile.clone();
-    config.merge_profile(&profile)?;
+    for profile in &config.global.use_profile.clone() {
+        config.merge_profile(profile)?;
+    }
+
 
     // start logger
     let level_filter = config.global.log_level.unwrap_or(LevelFilter::Info);