diff --git a/crates/nu-cli/src/cli.rs b/crates/nu-cli/src/cli.rs
index c634f3ed8c..f00144babf 100644
--- a/crates/nu-cli/src/cli.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-cli/src/cli.rs
@@ -368,6 +368,54 @@ pub fn create_default_context(
     Ok(context)
 }
 
+pub async fn run_vec_of_pipelines(
+    pipelines: Vec<String>,
+    redirect_stdin: bool,
+) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
+    let mut syncer = crate::EnvironmentSyncer::new();
+    let mut context = crate::create_default_context(&mut syncer)?;
+
+    let _ = crate::load_plugins(&mut context);
+
+    let cc = context.ctrl_c.clone();
+
+    ctrlc::set_handler(move || {
+        cc.store(true, Ordering::SeqCst);
+    })
+    .expect("Error setting Ctrl-C handler");
+
+    if context.ctrl_c.load(Ordering::SeqCst) {
+        context.ctrl_c.store(false, Ordering::SeqCst);
+    }
+
+    // before we start up, let's run our startup commands
+    if let Ok(config) = crate::data::config::config(Tag::unknown()) {
+        if let Some(commands) = config.get("startup") {
+            match commands {
+                Value {
+                    value: UntaggedValue::Table(pipelines),
+                    ..
+                } => {
+                    for pipeline in pipelines {
+                        if let Ok(pipeline_string) = pipeline.as_string() {
+                            let _ =
+                                run_pipeline_standalone(pipeline_string, false, &mut context).await;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+                _ => {
+                    println!("warning: expected a table of pipeline strings as startup commands");
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    for pipeline in pipelines {
+        run_pipeline_standalone(pipeline, redirect_stdin, &mut context).await?;
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 pub async fn run_pipeline_standalone(
     pipeline: String,
     redirect_stdin: bool,
diff --git a/crates/nu-cli/src/lib.rs b/crates/nu-cli/src/lib.rs
index 23c070f9a3..6c6ce62d8c 100644
--- a/crates/nu-cli/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-cli/src/lib.rs
@@ -28,7 +28,9 @@ mod shell;
 mod stream;
 mod utils;
 
-pub use crate::cli::{cli, create_default_context, load_plugins, run_pipeline_standalone};
+pub use crate::cli::{
+    cli, create_default_context, load_plugins, run_pipeline_standalone, run_vec_of_pipelines,
+};
 pub use crate::data::dict::TaggedListBuilder;
 pub use crate::data::primitive;
 pub use crate::data::value;
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 1f183b2167..58ac6d5515 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ use log::LevelFilter;
 use std::error::Error;
 use std::fs::File;
 use std::io::{prelude::*, BufReader};
-use std::sync::atomic::Ordering;
 
 fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
     let matches = App::new("nushell")
@@ -89,28 +88,11 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
     match matches.values_of("commands") {
         None => {}
         Some(values) => {
-            let mut syncer = nu_cli::EnvironmentSyncer::new();
-            let mut context = nu_cli::create_default_context(&mut syncer)?;
-
-            let _ = nu_cli::load_plugins(&mut context);
-
-            let cc = context.ctrl_c.clone();
-
-            ctrlc::set_handler(move || {
-                cc.store(true, Ordering::SeqCst);
-            })
-            .expect("Error setting Ctrl-C handler");
-
-            if context.ctrl_c.load(Ordering::SeqCst) {
-                context.ctrl_c.store(false, Ordering::SeqCst);
-            }
-            for item in values {
-                futures::executor::block_on(nu_cli::run_pipeline_standalone(
-                    item.into(),
-                    matches.is_present("stdin"),
-                    &mut context,
-                ))?;
-            }
+            let pipelines: Vec<String> = values.map(|x| x.to_string()).collect();
+            futures::executor::block_on(nu_cli::run_vec_of_pipelines(
+                pipelines,
+                matches.is_present("stdin"),
+            ))?;
             return Ok(());
         }
     }
@@ -119,31 +101,25 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
         Some(script) => {
             let file = File::open(script)?;
             let reader = BufReader::new(file);
-            let mut syncer = nu_cli::EnvironmentSyncer::new();
-            let mut context = nu_cli::create_default_context(&mut syncer)?;
+            let pipelines: Vec<String> = reader
+                .lines()
+                .filter_map(|x| {
+                    if let Ok(x) = x {
+                        if !x.starts_with('#') {
+                            Some(x)
+                        } else {
+                            None
+                        }
+                    } else {
+                        None
+                    }
+                })
+                .collect();
 
-            let _ = nu_cli::load_plugins(&mut context);
-
-            let cc = context.ctrl_c.clone();
-
-            ctrlc::set_handler(move || {
-                cc.store(true, Ordering::SeqCst);
-            })
-            .expect("Error setting Ctrl-C handler");
-
-            if context.ctrl_c.load(Ordering::SeqCst) {
-                context.ctrl_c.store(false, Ordering::SeqCst);
-            }
-            for line in reader.lines() {
-                let line = line?;
-                if !line.starts_with('#') {
-                    futures::executor::block_on(nu_cli::run_pipeline_standalone(
-                        line,
-                        matches.is_present("stdin"),
-                        &mut context,
-                    ))?;
-                }
-            }
+            futures::executor::block_on(nu_cli::run_vec_of_pipelines(
+                pipelines,
+                matches.is_present("stdin"),
+            ))?;
             return Ok(());
         }