diff --git a/activate b/activate
index a58a470..0e4c8a8 100755
--- a/activate
+++ b/activate
@@ -3,4 +3,5 @@ eval "$(docker run --rm --privileged \
   -v //var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
   -v "$(cygpath -w "$(pwd)" 2> /dev/null || pwd)":/src \
   -e COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME="${COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME:-${PWD##*/}}" \
+  -e BOWLINE_COMPOSE_FILE -e COMPOSE_FILE \
   -e DOCKER_API_VERSION "civicactions/bowline$BOWLINE_IMAGE_SUFFIX" "$0" "$@")"
diff --git a/cmd/bowline/main.go b/cmd/bowline/main.go
index 1923932..c2a9b40 100644
--- a/cmd/bowline/main.go
+++ b/cmd/bowline/main.go
@@ -3,13 +3,39 @@ package main
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/CivicActions/bowline/pkg/exposedcmd"
 )
 
+func parseComposeFilesEnv() (string, []string) {
+	envBCF := os.Getenv("BOWLINE_COMPOSE_FILE")
+	envCF := os.Getenv("COMPOSE_FILE")
+
+	// Default if no env vars
+	var composeFileString string
+
+	switch {
+	case envBCF != "":
+		// BOWLINE_COMPOSE_FILE is the preferred env var
+		composeFileString = envBCF
+	case envCF != "":
+		// Use COMPOSE_FILE as second choice
+		composeFileString = envCF
+	default:
+		// Default to the docker-compose default
+		composeFileString = "docker-compose.yml"
+	}
+
+	composeFiles := filepath.SplitList(composeFileString)
+	return composeFileString, composeFiles
+}
+
 func main() {
-	composeFiles := []string{"docker-compose.yml"}
+	composeFileString, composeFiles := parseComposeFilesEnv()
+	fmt.Println("# composeFiles: ", composeFiles)
+
 	composeProjectName := os.Getenv("COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME")
 	if composeProjectName == "" {
 		fmt.Printf("echo -e 'Error getting composer project name: ensure COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME is set'")
@@ -21,7 +47,7 @@ func main() {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 	for alias, command := range commands {
-		fmt.Printf("alias %s='%s'\n", alias, command)
+		fmt.Printf("alias %s='COMPOSE_FILE=\"%s\" %s'\n", alias, composeFileString, command)
 	}
 	fmt.Println("export BOWLINE_ACTIVATED=1")
 	// Print some info to user.
diff --git a/cmd/bowline/main_test.go b/cmd/bowline/main_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..367aa49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/bowline/main_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestParseComposeFilesEnv(t *testing.T) {
+	var testSets = []struct {
+		name    string
+		envVars map[string]string
+		want    string
+	}{
+		{"BOWLINE_COMPOSE_FILE one file",
+			map[string]string{"BOWLINE_COMPOSE_FILE": "docker-compose.yml"}, "docker-compose.yml"},
+		{"BOWLINE_COMPOSE_FILE two files",
+			map[string]string{"BOWLINE_COMPOSE_FILE": "docker-compose.yml:file2"}, "docker-compose.yml:file2"},
+		{"COMPOSE_FILE",
+			map[string]string{"COMPOSE_FILE": "docker-compose.yml"}, "docker-compose.yml"},
+		{"No var set",
+			map[string]string{}, "docker-compose.yml"},
+		{"Both vars set",
+			map[string]string{"COMPOSE_FILE": "wrong value", "BOWLINE_COMPOSE_FILE": "correct"}, "correct"},
+	}
+
+	for _, ts := range testSets {
+		ts := ts
+		t.Run(ts.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			os.Unsetenv("BOWLINE_COMPOSE_FILE")
+			os.Unsetenv("COMPOSE_FILE")
+			for key, val := range ts.envVars {
+				os.Setenv(key, val)
+			}
+			composeFileString, _ := parseComposeFilesEnv()
+			if composeFileString != ts.want {
+				t.Errorf("Unexpected results: %s does not match %s", composeFileString, ts.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
+}