diff --git a/cmd/switcher/context.go b/cmd/switcher/context.go
index 85fd1cfa..00f8c80d 100644
--- a/cmd/switcher/context.go
+++ b/cmd/switcher/context.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ package switcher
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"os"
 
 	delete_context "github.com/danielfoehrkn/kubeswitch/pkg/subcommands/delete-context"
 	"github.com/danielfoehrkn/kubeswitch/pkg/subcommands/history"
@@ -247,7 +246,7 @@ func setFlagsForContextCommands(command *cobra.Command) {
 	command.Flags().StringVar(
 		&configPath,
 		"config-path",
-		os.ExpandEnv("$HOME/.kube/switch-config.yaml"),
+		getDefaultConfigPath(),
 		"path on the local filesystem to the configuration file.")
 	// not used for setContext command. Makes call in switch.sh script easier (no need to exclude flag from call)
 	command.Flags().BoolVar(
diff --git a/cmd/switcher/gardener.go b/cmd/switcher/gardener.go
index 5d0855e4..dc734761 100644
--- a/cmd/switcher/gardener.go
+++ b/cmd/switcher/gardener.go
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 package switcher
 
 import (
-	"os"
-
 	gardenercontrolplane "github.com/danielfoehrkn/kubeswitch/pkg/subcommands/gardener"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
@@ -47,7 +45,7 @@ func init() {
 	controlplaneCmd.Flags().StringVar(
 		&configPath,
 		"config-path",
-		os.ExpandEnv("$HOME/.kube/switch-config.yaml"),
+		getDefaultConfigPath(),
 		"path on the local filesystem to the configuration file.")
 
 	gardenerCmd.AddCommand(controlplaneCmd)
diff --git a/cmd/switcher/hooks.go b/cmd/switcher/hooks.go
index 1a73d588..bdf49748 100644
--- a/cmd/switcher/hooks.go
+++ b/cmd/switcher/hooks.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func init() {
 	hookLsCmd.Flags().StringVar(
 		&configPath,
 		"config-path",
-		os.ExpandEnv("$HOME/.kube/switch-config.yaml"),
+		getDefaultConfigPath(),
 		"path on the local filesystem to the configuration file.")
 
 	hookLsCmd.Flags().StringVar(
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func init() {
 	hookCmd.Flags().StringVar(
 		&configPath,
 		"config-path",
-		os.ExpandEnv("$HOME/.kube/switch-config.yaml"),
+		getDefaultConfigPath(),
 		"path on the local filesystem to the configuration file.")
 
 	hookCmd.Flags().StringVar(
diff --git a/cmd/switcher/switcher.go b/cmd/switcher/switcher.go
index 056f831a..18279b29 100644
--- a/cmd/switcher/switcher.go
+++ b/cmd/switcher/switcher.go
@@ -441,6 +441,17 @@ func getKubeconfigPathFromFlag() string {
 	return os.ExpandEnv(kubeconfigPath)
 }
 
+// getDefaultConfigPath returns the default path to the switch configuration file.
+// It can be overridden via the SWITCH_CONFIG_PATH environment variable, which is
+// useful for directory-based environment managers such as direnv. When the
+// environment variable is unset, it falls back to "$HOME/.kube/switch-config.yaml".
+func getDefaultConfigPath() string {
+	if env := os.Getenv("SWITCH_CONFIG_PATH"); env != "" {
+		return os.ExpandEnv(env)
+	}
+	return os.ExpandEnv("$HOME/.kube/switch-config.yaml")
+}
+
 // isDuplicatePath searches through all kubeconfig stores in the switch-config.yaml and checks if the
 // given path is already configured in any of these stores
 // returns true if it is already configureed
diff --git a/docs/kubeconfig_stores.md b/docs/kubeconfig_stores.md
index 8c28c14f..dca84701 100644
--- a/docs/kubeconfig_stores.md
+++ b/docs/kubeconfig_stores.md
@@ -4,7 +4,12 @@
 If you neither provide a flag or a `SwitchConfig` file, it will default to the file `~/.kube/config`.
 
 The `SwitchConfig` file is expected to be in the default location
-on the local filesystem at `~/.kube/switch-config.yaml` or set via flag `--config-path`.
+on the local filesystem at `~/.kube/switch-config.yaml`, set via flag `--config-path`,
+or set via the `SWITCH_CONFIG_PATH` environment variable. The flag takes precedence
+over the environment variable. Using `SWITCH_CONFIG_PATH` is handy with directory-based
+environment managers such as [direnv](https://direnv.net/) to select a per-directory
+configuration without shell aliases or wrapper scripts (e.g. add
+`export SWITCH_CONFIG_PATH=$PWD/switch-config.yaml` to a directory's `.envrc`).
 Example config files can be found [here](../resources/demo-config-files) but also in
 the documentation for each store (see below).