diff --git a/man/utoprc.5 b/man/utoprc.5
index f36dd7c..fb42b0a 100644
--- a/man/utoprc.5
+++ b/man/utoprc.5
@@ -27,6 +27,14 @@ ignored. Configuration lines are of the form:
 may contains the '*' star character. In that case any key which match
 the pattern is given the value after the colon.
 
+The boolean key
+.I autoload
+can be set to
+.I false
+to disable the autoloading of files in
+.I $OCAML_TOPLEVEL_PATH/autload
+at startup.
+
 The key
 .I profile
 may have the value
diff --git a/src/lib/uTop_main.ml b/src/lib/uTop_main.ml
index 3ce2ad1..e2f8c93 100644
--- a/src/lib/uTop_main.ml
+++ b/src/lib/uTop_main.ml
@@ -1108,7 +1108,7 @@ let load_init_files dir =
   Array.iter
     (fun fn ->
        if Filename.check_suffix fn ".ml" then
-         ignore (Toploop.use_silently Format.err_formatter fn : bool))
+         ignore (Toploop.use_silently Format.err_formatter (Filename.concat dir fn) : bool))
     files
 ;;
 
@@ -1124,7 +1124,7 @@ let common_init () =
     | Some dir ->
       Topdirs.dir_directory dir;
       let autoload = Filename.concat dir "autoload" in
-      if Sys.file_exists autoload then
+      if !UTop_private.autoload && Sys.file_exists autoload then
         load_init_files autoload
     | None -> ());
   (* Load user's .ocamlinit file. *)
diff --git a/src/lib/uTop_private.ml b/src/lib/uTop_private.ml
index 4a87469..49cf515 100644
--- a/src/lib/uTop_private.ml
+++ b/src/lib/uTop_private.ml
@@ -24,3 +24,5 @@ type ui = Console | Emacs
 let ui, set_ui = S.create Console
 
 let error_style = ref LTerm_style.none
+
+let autoload = ref true
diff --git a/src/lib/uTop_styles.ml b/src/lib/uTop_styles.ml
index cb7ace4..3ecbbb6 100644
--- a/src/lib/uTop_styles.ml
+++ b/src/lib/uTop_styles.ml
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ let load () =
        | "" -> ()
        | str -> raise (LTerm_resources.Error (Printf.sprintf "invalid profile %S" str)));
     UTop_private.error_style := styles.style_error;
+    UTop_private.autoload := LTerm_resources.get_bool "autoload" res <> Some false;
     return ()
   with
     | Unix.Unix_error(Unix.ENOENT, _, _) ->
diff --git a/utoprc-dark b/utoprc-dark
index 757f397..ec5dd69 100644
--- a/utoprc-dark
+++ b/utoprc-dark
@@ -18,3 +18,6 @@ quotation.foreground:     x-purple
 error.foreground:         red
 directive.foreground:     x-lightsteelblue
 parenthesis.background:   blue
+
+! uncomment the next line to disable autoload files
+! autoload: false
diff --git a/utoprc-light b/utoprc-light
index a70de82..7a4fb9b 100644
--- a/utoprc-light
+++ b/utoprc-light
@@ -18,3 +18,6 @@ quotation.foreground:     x-purple
 error.foreground:         red
 directive.foreground:     x-mediumorchid4
 parenthesis.background:   light-blue
+
+! uncomment the next line to disable autoload files
+! autoload: false