diff --git a/ClientCore/ClientConfiguration.cs b/ClientCore/ClientConfiguration.cs
index 8d9be33eb..a29a3bc9f 100644
--- a/ClientCore/ClientConfiguration.cs
+++ b/ClientCore/ClientConfiguration.cs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ public class ClientConfiguration
         private const string CLIENT_SETTINGS = "DTACnCNetClient.ini";
         private const string GAME_OPTIONS = "GameOptions.ini";
         private const string CLIENT_DEFS = "ClientDefinitions.ini";
+        private const string NETWORK_DEFS_LOCAL = "NetworkDefinitions.local.ini";
         private const string NETWORK_DEFS = "NetworkDefinitions.ini";
 
         private static ClientConfiguration _instance;
@@ -48,7 +49,17 @@ protected ClientConfiguration()
 
             gameOptions_ini = new IniFile(SafePath.CombineFilePath(baseResourceDirectory.FullName, GAME_OPTIONS));
 
-            networkDefinitionsIni = new IniFile(SafePath.CombineFilePath(ProgramConstants.GetResourcePath(), NETWORK_DEFS));
+            string networkDefsPathLocal = SafePath.CombineFilePath(ProgramConstants.GetResourcePath(), NETWORK_DEFS_LOCAL);
+            if (File.Exists(networkDefsPathLocal))
+            {
+                networkDefinitionsIni = new IniFile(networkDefsPathLocal);
+                Logger.Log("Loaded network definitions from NetworkDefinitions.local.ini (user override)");
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                string networkDefsPath = SafePath.CombineFilePath(ProgramConstants.GetResourcePath(), NETWORK_DEFS);
+                networkDefinitionsIni = new IniFile(networkDefsPath);
+            }
         }
 
         /// <summary>
diff --git a/DXMainClient/PreStartup.cs b/DXMainClient/PreStartup.cs
index af162f482..5a8c7a110 100644
--- a/DXMainClient/PreStartup.cs
+++ b/DXMainClient/PreStartup.cs
@@ -88,8 +88,6 @@ public static void Initialize(StartupParams parameters)
             if (!clientUserFilesDirectory.Exists)
                 clientUserFilesDirectory.Create();
 
-            MainClientConstants.Initialize();
-
             Logger.Log("***Logfile for " + MainClientConstants.GAME_NAME_LONG + " client***");
 
             string clientVersion = GitVersionInformation.AssemblySemVer;
@@ -103,6 +101,7 @@ public static void Initialize(StartupParams parameters)
 #if DEVELOPMENT_BUILD
             Logger.Log("This is a development build of the client. Stability and reliability may not be fully guaranteed.");
 #endif
+            MainClientConstants.Initialize();
 
             // Log information about given startup params
             if (parameters.NoAudio)