diff --git a/offlineimap.sgml b/offlineimap.sgml
index 5b5d148..1fc5bd6 100644
--- a/offlineimap.sgml
+++ b/offlineimap.sgml
@@ -373,6 +373,17 @@ cd offlineimap-x.y.z</ProgramListing>
 	      will debug the threading model.
 	    </para></listitem>
 	  </varlistentry>
+        <varlistentry><term>-k [<replaceable>section</replaceable>:]<replaceable>option</replaceable>=<replaceable>value</replaceable>
+          </term>
+          <listitem><para> Override configuration file option.  If
+              "section" is omitted, it defaults
+              to <property>general</property>.  Any underscores "_" in
+              the section name are replaced with spaces: for instance,
+              to override option <property>autorefresh</property> in
+              the "[Account Personal]" section in the config file one
+              would use "-k Account_Personal:autorefresh=30".
+          </para></listitem>
+        </varlistentry>
 	  <varlistentry><term>-l
 	  <replaceable>filename</replaceable></term>
 	    <listitem><para>
diff --git a/offlineimap/init.py b/offlineimap/init.py
index 9824f05..d901864 100644
--- a/offlineimap/init.py
+++ b/offlineimap/init.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def startup(versionno):
         sys.stdout.write(version.getcmdhelp() + "\n")
         sys.exit(0)
 
-    for optlist in getopt(sys.argv[1:], 'P:1oqa:c:d:l:u:h')[0]:
+    for optlist in getopt(sys.argv[1:], 'P:1oqa:c:d:l:u:hk:')[0]:
         options[optlist[0]] = optlist[1]
 
     if options.has_key('-h'):
@@ -79,6 +79,17 @@ def startup(versionno):
 
     config.read(configfilename)
 
+    # override config values with option '-k'
+    for option in options.keys():
+        if option == '-k':
+            (key, value) = options['-k'].split('=', 1)
+            if ':' in key:
+                (secname, key) = key.split(':', 1)
+                section = secname.replace("_", " ")
+            else:
+                section = "general"
+            config.set(section, key, value)
+
     ui = offlineimap.ui.detector.findUI(config, options.get('-u'))
     UIBase.setglobalui(ui)
 
diff --git a/offlineimap/version.py b/offlineimap/version.py
index 93d1ca3..0a46dec 100644
--- a/offlineimap/version.py
+++ b/offlineimap/version.py
@@ -94,7 +94,15 @@ def getcmdhelp():
               one else.  The maildir option will enable debugging
               for certain Maildir operations.
 
-       -o     Run  only once, ignoring any autorefresh setting in
+       -k [section:]option=value
+              Override configuration file option.  If"section" is
+              omitted, it defaults to "general".  Any underscores
+              "_" in the section name are replaced with spaces:
+              for instance,  to override  option "autorefresh" in
+              the "[Account Personal]" section in the config file
+              one would use "-k Account_Personal:autorefresh=30".
+              
+       -o     Run only once,  ignoring any autorefresh setting in
               the config file.
 
        -q     Run  only quick synchronizations.   Ignore any flag