diff --git a/api/api.go b/api/api.go
index a21cb40e8..49a2d97ce 100644
--- a/api/api.go
+++ b/api/api.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package api
 import (
 	"context"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/CircleCI-Public/circleci-cli/client"
@@ -36,8 +37,13 @@ func (response ConfigResponse) ToError() error {
 }
 
 func loadYaml(path string) (string, error) {
-
-	config, err := ioutil.ReadFile(path)
+	var err error
+	var config []byte
+	if path == "-" {
+		config, err = ioutil.ReadAll(os.Stdin)
+	} else {
+		config, err = ioutil.ReadFile(path)
+	}
 
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", errors.Wrapf(err, "Could not load config file at %s", path)
diff --git a/cmd/orb.go b/cmd/orb.go
index 89ff9e0ca..7797ba858 100644
--- a/cmd/orb.go
+++ b/cmd/orb.go
@@ -41,10 +41,10 @@ func newOrbCommand() *cobra.Command {
 
 	orbCommand.AddCommand(orbListCommand)
 
-	orbValidateCommand.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&orbPath, "path", "p", "orb.yml", "path to orb file")
+	orbValidateCommand.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&orbPath, "path", "p", "orb.yml", "path to orb file ('-' for STDIN)")
 	orbCommand.AddCommand(orbValidateCommand)
 
-	orbExpandCommand.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&orbPath, "path", "p", "orb.yml", "path to orb file")
+	orbExpandCommand.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&orbPath, "path", "p", "orb.yml", "path to orb file ('-' for STDIN)")
 	orbCommand.AddCommand(orbExpandCommand)
 
 	return orbCommand
diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 64b9f0b52..4f3727a34 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func MakeCommands() *cobra.Command {
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolP("verbose", "v", false, "Enable verbose logging.")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringP("endpoint", "e", defaultEndpoint, "the endpoint of your CircleCI GraphQL API")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringP("token", "t", "", "your token for using CircleCI")
-	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&configPath, "config", "c", configPath, "path to build config")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&configPath, "config", "c", configPath, "path to build config. '-' reads from STDIN")
 
 	for _, flag := range []string{"endpoint", "token", "verbose"} {
 		bindCobraFlagToViper(rootCmd, flag)