diff --git a/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/actions/config.js b/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/actions/config.js
index b982341d..1a0e974a 100644
--- a/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/actions/config.js
+++ b/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/actions/config.js
@@ -111,7 +111,10 @@ export function loadConfig() {
     try {
       const preloadedConfig = getState().config;
       const configUrl = getConfigUrl();
-      const loadedConfig = await getConfig(configUrl, preloadedConfig && preloadedConfig.size > 1);
+      const loadedConfig =
+        preloadedConfig && preloadedConfig.get('load_config_file') === false
+          ? {}
+          : await getConfig(configUrl, preloadedConfig && preloadedConfig.size > 1);
 
       /**
        * Merge any existing configuration so the result can be validated.
diff --git a/website/content/docs/beta-features.md b/website/content/docs/beta-features.md
index 46c85c19..44fa4acb 100644
--- a/website/content/docs/beta-features.md
+++ b/website/content/docs/beta-features.md
@@ -134,6 +134,35 @@ init({
   },
 })
 
+/**
+ * Optionally pass in a complete config object and set a flag
+ *  (`load_config_file: false`) to ignore the `config.yml`.
+ *
+ * For example, the code below contains a complete config. The
+ * `config.yml` will be ignored when setting `load_config_file` to false.
+ * It is not required if the `config.yml` file is missing to set
+ * `load_config_file`, but will improve performance and avoid a load error.
+ */
+
+init({
+  config: {
+    backend: {
+      name: 'git-gateway',
+    },
+    load_config_file: false,
+    media_folder: "static/images/uploads",
+    public_folder: "/images/uploads",
+    collections: [
+      { label: "Blog", name: "blog", folder: "_posts/blog", create: true, fields: [
+        { label: "Title", name: "title", widget: "string" },
+        { label: "Publish Date", name: "date", widget: "datetime" },
+        { label: "Featured Image", name: "thumbnail", widget: "image" },
+        { label: "Body", name: "body", widget: "markdown" },
+      ]},
+    ],
+  },
+})
+
 // The registry works as expected, and can be used before or after init.
 CMS.registerPreviewTemplate(...);
 ```