diff --git a/news/xdgconf.rst b/news/xdgconf.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e5b548944
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/xdgconf.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+**Added:** None
+
+**Changed:**
+
+* Xonsh run control now also looks for the XDG-compliant file
+  ``~/.config/xonsh/rc.xsh`` at startup.
+
+**Deprecated:** None
+
+**Removed:** None
+
+**Fixed:** None
+
+**Security:** None
diff --git a/xonsh/environ.py b/xonsh/environ.py
index 41865824c..d150f22f3 100644
--- a/xonsh/environ.py
+++ b/xonsh/environ.py
@@ -247,13 +247,15 @@ def xonshconfig(env):
 @default_value
 def default_xonshrc(env):
     """Creates a new instance of the default xonshrc tuple."""
+    xcdrc = os.path.join(xonsh_config_dir(env), 'rc.xsh')
     if ON_WINDOWS:
         dxrc = (xonshconfig(env),
                 os.path.join(os_environ['ALLUSERSPROFILE'],
                              'xonsh', 'xonshrc'),
+                xcdrc,
                 os.path.expanduser('~/.xonshrc'))
     else:
-        dxrc = (xonshconfig(env), '/etc/xonshrc', os.path.expanduser('~/.xonshrc'))
+        dxrc = (xonshconfig(env), '/etc/xonshrc', xcdrc, os.path.expanduser('~/.xonshrc'))
     return dxrc
 
 
@@ -656,9 +658,9 @@ def DEFAULT_DOCS():
         'A list of the locations of run control files, if they exist.  User '
         'defined run control file will supersede values set in system-wide '
         'control file if there is a naming collision.', default=(
-            "On Linux & Mac OSX: ``['/etc/xonshrc', '~/.xonshrc']``\n"
+            "On Linux & Mac OSX: ``['/etc/xonshrc', '~/.config/xonsh/rc.xsh', '~/.xonshrc']``\n"
             "\nOn Windows: "
-            "``['%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\\\\xonsh\\\\xonshrc', '~/.xonshrc']``")),
+            "``['%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\\\\xonsh\\\\xonshrc', '~/.config/xonsh/rc.xsh', '~/.xonshrc']``")),
     'XONSH_APPEND_NEWLINE': VarDocs(
         'Append new line when a partial line is preserved in output.'
     ),