diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index 7943a35..f3d6f96 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ int oct_type;
 
 lua_State *L = NULL;
 
+#define MAXIMUM_LUA_ARG_LENGTH 512
+char lua_args[MAXIMUM_LUA_ARG_LENGTH];
+
+
 struct {
 	char port[6]; // max 65535 so 6 bytes needed
 	// Might come in handy later to keep filename
@@ -100,6 +104,9 @@ int process_args(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 	int log_file_spec = 0;
 	int valid_last_argument = 0;
 
+	// zero out lua_args
+	memset(lua_args, '\0', MAXIMUM_LUA_ARG_LENGTH);
+
 	for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
 		// argv's are guaranteed to be zero-terminated, so can use
 		// strcmp instead of strncmp
@@ -147,6 +154,12 @@ int process_args(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 				return 0;
 			}
 		}
+		else if (strcmp(argv[i], "-luaargs") == 0) {
+			if ((i+1) < argc) {
+				strncpy(lua_args, argv[i+1], MAXIMUM_LUA_ARG_LENGTH);
+				i++;
+			}
+		}
 		else {
 			// This is the lua file to run
 			if (i == argc-1) {
@@ -200,7 +213,8 @@ int initialize_everything(char* lua_file) {
 	}
 	OCT_LOG_INFO("Begin running oct_init()");
 	lua_getglobal(L, "oct_init");
-	if (lua_pcall(L, 0, 2, 0) != LUA_OK) {
+	lua_pushstring(L, lua_args);
+	if (lua_pcall(L, 1, 2, 0) != LUA_OK) {
 		OCT_LOG_ERROR("%s", luaL_checkstring(L, -1));
 		deinitialize_everything();
 		return 0;
@@ -255,6 +269,7 @@ void usage() {
 	fprintf(stderr, "  -h\t\tPrint this message and exit\n");
 	fprintf(stderr, "  -ll\t\t Set log level: 0=err, 1=warn, 2=info, 3=debug\n");
 	fprintf(stderr, "  -lf\t\t Specify log output file\n");
+	fprintf(stderr, "  -luaargs\t Specify string to be passed to oct_init function\n");
 	fprintf(stderr, "\n");
 }
 
diff --git a/test_args.lua b/test_args.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..527439b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_args.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+require("oct_utils")
+require("termbox_defs")
+
+function oct_init(args)
+   OCT_LOG_ERROR("Starting oct_init")
+   OCT_LOG_ERROR("Received args: " .. args)
+   return OCT_NOT_NEEDS_NETWORKING, OCT_NOT_NEEDS_TERMBOX
+end
+
+function oct_loop(key, ch)
+   
+end