diff --git a/mira/base.py b/mira/base.py
index 477d939..80b8774 100644
--- a/mira/base.py
+++ b/mira/base.py
@@ -41,10 +41,18 @@ class MiraBot:
         self._config = toml.load(config_path)
 
         self._jid = aioxmpp.JID.fromstr(self._config["jid"])
-        self._password = self._config["password"]
         self._avatar = self._config.get("avatar", None)
         self._client = None
 
+        # Also supports situations where the secret cannot be in the config file
+        if "password" in self._config:
+            self._password = self._config["password"]
+        else if "password_file" in self._config:
+            with open(self._config["password_file"], "r") as f:
+                self._password = f.read()
+        else:
+            raise Exception("Neither password nor password_file specified")
+
         self._modules = {}  # Module name -> module
         self._storage_manager = StorageManager.get_instance(
             self._config.get("storage_path", "/etc/mira/storage.json")