diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7964faa064..22a7898db3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 proto
 *~
+localrc
diff --git a/stackrc b/stackrc
index 2d265d3057..3580ae176c 100644
--- a/stackrc
+++ b/stackrc
@@ -34,3 +34,6 @@ OPENSTACKX_BRANCH=diablo
 # openstack-munin is a collection of munin plugins for monitoring the stack
 MUNIN_REPO=https://github.com/cloudbuilders/openstack-munin.git
 MUNIN_BRANCH=master
+
+# allow local overwrites
+[ -f ./localrc ] && source ./localrc