diff --git a/src/kreadconfig/kreadconfig.cpp b/src/kreadconfig/kreadconfig.cpp
--- a/src/kreadconfig/kreadconfig.cpp
+++ b/src/kreadconfig/kreadconfig.cpp
@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@
     parser.addOption(QCommandLineOption(QStringLiteral("key"), QCoreApplication::translate("main", "Key to look for"), QStringLiteral("key")));
     parser.addOption(QCommandLineOption(QStringLiteral("default"), QCoreApplication::translate("main", "Default value"), QStringLiteral("value")));
     parser.addOption(QCommandLineOption(QStringLiteral("type"), QCoreApplication::translate("main", "Type of variable"), QStringLiteral("type")));
+    parser.addOption(QCommandLineOption(QStringLiteral("ignore-globals"), QCoreApplication::translate("main", "Ignore global files")));
+    parser.addOption(QCommandLineOption(QStringLiteral("ignore-cascading"), QCoreApplication::translate("main", "Ignore configuration file cascading")));
+    parser.addHelpOption();
 
 	parser.process(app);
 
@@ -71,42 +74,31 @@
 		parser.showHelp(1);
 	}
 
-	KSharedConfig::openConfig();
+	KConfig::OpenFlags flags = KConfig::FullConfig;
+    if (parser.isSet(QLatin1String("ignore-globals")))
+        flags &= ~KConfig::IncludeGlobals;
+    if (parser.isSet(QLatin1String("ignore-cascading")))
+        flags &= ~KConfig::CascadeConfig;
+
+	KSharedConfig::Ptr konfig = KSharedConfig::openConfig(file, flags);
 
-	KConfig *konfig;
-	bool configMustDeleted = false;
-	if (file.isEmpty())
-	   konfig = KSharedConfig::openConfig().data();
-	else
-	{
-		konfig = new KConfig( file, KConfig::NoGlobals );
-		configMustDeleted=true;
-	}
 	KConfigGroup cfgGroup = konfig->group(QString());
 	foreach (const QString &grp, groups)
 		cfgGroup = cfgGroup.group(grp);
     if(type==QStringLiteral("bool")) {
 		dflt=dflt.toLower();
         bool def=(dflt==QStringLiteral("true") || dflt==QStringLiteral("on") || dflt==QStringLiteral("yes") || dflt==QStringLiteral("1"));
 		bool retValue = !cfgGroup.readEntry(key, def);
-		if ( configMustDeleted )
-			delete konfig;
 		return retValue;
     } else if((type==QStringLiteral("num")) || (type==QStringLiteral("int"))) {
 		int retValue = cfgGroup.readEntry(key, dflt.toInt());
-		if ( configMustDeleted )
-			delete konfig;
 		return retValue;
     } else if (type==QStringLiteral("path")){
 		fprintf(stdout, "%s\n", cfgGroup.readPathEntry(key, dflt).toLocal8Bit().data());
-		if ( configMustDeleted )
-			delete konfig;
 		return 0;
 	} else {
 		/* Assume it's a string... */
 		fprintf(stdout, "%s\n", cfgGroup.readEntry(key, dflt).toLocal8Bit().data());
-		if ( configMustDeleted )
-			delete konfig;
 		return 0;
 	}
 }