diff --git a/helpdesk/validators.py b/helpdesk/validators.py
index ced10523..01500a9a 100644
--- a/helpdesk/validators.py
+++ b/helpdesk/validators.py
@@ -2,14 +2,24 @@
 #
 # validators for file uploads, etc.
 
+from django.conf import settings
 
-
+#TODO: can we use the builtin Django validator instead?
+# see: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.0/ref/validators/#fileextensionvalidator
 def validate_file_extension(value):
     import os
     from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError
     ext = os.path.splitext(value.name)[1]  # [0] returns path+filename
-    valid_extensions = ['.txt', '.pdf', '.doc', '.docx', '.odt', '.jpg', '.png']
     # TODO: we might improve this with more thorough checks of file types
     # rather than just the extensions.
+
+    # check if VALID_EXTENSIONS is defined in settings.py
+    # if not use defaults
+
+    if settings.VALID_EXTENSIONS:
+        valid_extensions = settings.VALID_EXTENSIONS
+    else:
+        valid_extensions = ['.txt', '.pdf', '.doc', '.docx', '.odt', '.jpg', '.png']
+
     if not ext.lower() in valid_extensions:
         raise ValidationError('Unsupported file extension.')