diff --git a/doc/source/install/include/configure-ironic-api-wsgi.inc b/doc/source/install/include/configure-ironic-api-wsgi.inc
index a248ee9fc1..aa31a39760 100644
--- a/doc/source/install/include/configure-ironic-api-wsgi.inc
+++ b/doc/source/install/include/configure-ironic-api-wsgi.inc
@@ -92,19 +92,17 @@ Passing Configuration Options
 ------------------------------
 
 By default, Ironic will use its standard configuration file search paths.
-If you need to specify a custom configuration file:
+See https://docs.openstack.org/oslo.config/latest/configuration/options.html
+for more info.
 
-For the initialization method with arguments::
+If you need to specify a custom configuration file, you can set the
+``IRONIC_CONFIG_FILE`` and/or ``IRONIC_CONFIG_DIR`` environment variable:
+
+.. code-block:: cfg
 
-    # uWSGI with custom config (in ini file)
     [uwsgi]
-    module = ironic.api.wsgi:initialize_wsgi_app(argv=["--config-file=/etc/ironic/ironic.conf"])
-
-Alternatively, you can set environment variables before starting the WSGI server::
-
-    export OS_CLOUD=mycloud
-    # or
-    export IRONIC_CONF=/etc/ironic/ironic.conf
+    ...
+    env = IRONIC_CONFIG_DIR=/etc/mycustomdir/
 
 Important Considerations
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/ironic/common/config.py b/ironic/common/config.py
index fedf5c2725..bb535b66a9 100644
--- a/ironic/common/config.py
+++ b/ironic/common/config.py
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 #    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #    under the License.
 
+import os
+
 from oslo_config import cfg
 import osprofiler.opts as profiler_opts
 
@@ -23,10 +25,21 @@ from ironic import version
 
 
 def parse_args(argv, default_config_files=None):
+    # NOTE(amorin) allow wsgi app to start with custom config file/dir
+    conf_file_from_env = os.environ.get('IRONIC_CONFIG_FILE')
+    if conf_file_from_env and not default_config_files:
+        default_config_files = [conf_file_from_env]
+    conf_dir_from_env = os.environ.get('IRONIC_CONFIG_DIR')
+    if conf_dir_from_env:
+        default_config_dirs = [conf_dir_from_env]
+    else:
+        default_config_dirs = None
+
     rpc.set_defaults(control_exchange='ironic')
     cfg.CONF(argv[1:],
              project='ironic',
              version=version.version_info.release_string(),
-             default_config_files=default_config_files)
+             default_config_files=default_config_files,
+             default_config_dirs=default_config_dirs)
     rpc.init(cfg.CONF)
     profiler_opts.set_defaults(cfg.CONF)
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-wsgi-args-31112fb7db5499d1.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-wsgi-args-31112fb7db5499d1.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d8969419e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-wsgi-args-31112fb7db5499d1.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+deprecations:
+  - |
+    Using ``ironic.api.wsgi:initialize_wsgi_app`` to provide custom config file
+    to ironic is now deprecated.
+
+    Instead, two new environment variables ``IRONIC_CONFIG_DIR`` and
+    ``IRONIC_CONFIG_FILE`` are introduced to provide the same functionality.