diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3d22e71b..9d2e4a11 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -453,6 +453,11 @@ files contain key mappings as well (TODO: probably will move them out to skwp-ke
  * sass-status - decorates your status bar with full nesting of where you are in the sass file
 
 
+### Overriding vim settings
+
+You may use `~/.vimrc.before` for settings like the __leader__ setting. You may `~/.vimrc.after` for any additional overrides/settings.
+
+
 ### Adding your own vim plugins
 
 YADR comes with a dead simple plugin manager that just uses git submodules, without any fancy config files.
diff --git a/vim/after/plugin/vimrc_after.vim b/vim/after/plugin/vimrc_after.vim
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..615d6e69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vim/after/plugin/vimrc_after.vim
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+" https://github.com/carlhuda/janus/blob/master/janus/vim/core/janus/after/plugin/vimrc_after.vim
+" Customization
+"
+" This loads after the janus plugins so that janus-specific plugin mappings can
+" be overwritten.
+
+if filereadable(expand("~/.vimrc.after"))
+  source ~/.vimrc.after
+endif
+
diff --git a/vimrc b/vimrc
index 60d2711b..d0f8d958 100644
--- a/vimrc
+++ b/vimrc
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@
 " This must be first, because it changes other options as a side effect.
 set nocompatible
 
+" TODO: this may not be in the correct place. It is intended to allow overriding <Leader>.
+" source ~/.vimrc.before if it exists.
+if filereadable(expand("~/.vimrc.before"))
+  source ~/.vimrc.before
+endif
+
 " =============== Pathogen Initialization ===============
 " This loads all the plugins in ~/.vim/bundle
 " Use tpope's pathogen plugin to manage all other plugins
@@ -90,3 +96,4 @@ set wildignore+=*vim/backups*
 set scrolloff=8         "Start scrolling when we're 8 lines away from margins
 set sidescrolloff=15
 set sidescroll=1
+