diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2bb08a3ec..2288758f2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -93,6 +93,11 @@ Features:
     * The serial number is unchanged: the framework has no serial of its own, so it is borrowed from the IOKit entry for the same controller.
     * Needs macOS 11.0, the release that introduced `GCDeviceBattery`.
     * `[GCController controllers]` is filled by a system daemon, and only while the run loop is pumped, so the module pumps it for at most 50 ms -- but only after confirming that the framework claims a connected controller. The wait is therefore not paid on a machine with no controller, or with one Apple does not claim.
+* Added the `general.preload.lua` option, which runs a Lua script as the config is read, so a file of helpers can be shared by several modules instead of being repeated in every one. (General)
+    * It runs before any module does, so a script that raises is reported as a config error and stops the run, instead of being printed as the failure of whichever module happened to come first.
+    * A config that sets it therefore starts the Lua interpreter even when no `lua:` format string is used.
+    * The script loads its own helpers with `dofile` or `loadfile`. `require` is not available, and neither is the rest of Lua's `package` library, so a config file still cannot load a `.so` / `.dll`.
+    * A build without Lua support rejects the option instead of accepting it and doing nothing.
 
 Bugfixes:
 * Fixed Base64 encoding producing incorrect output for some inputs. (General)
diff --git a/doc/json_schema.json b/doc/json_schema.json
index 232dae5c3..d4f4c5391 100644
--- a/doc/json_schema.json
+++ b/doc/json_schema.json
@@ -937,6 +937,17 @@
                     "type": "boolean",
                     "description": "Whether to detect and display component versions. Mainly for benchmarking",
                     "default": true
+                },
+                "preload": {
+                    "description": "Scripts to run while the config is read, before any module runs",
+                    "type": "object",
+                    "additionalProperties": false,
+                    "properties": {
+                        "lua": {
+                            "type": "string",
+                            "description": "Lua script to run once, as soon as the config is read, for example `dofile('/path/to/helpers.lua')`"
+                        }
+                    }
                 }
             }
         },
diff --git a/src/options/general.c b/src/options/general.c
index ee7204218..890f38e7d 100644
--- a/src/options/general.c
+++ b/src/options/general.c
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #include "common/jsonconfig.h"
 #include "common/processing.h"
 #include "common/strutil.h"
+#include "common/lua.h"
 #include "options/general.h"
 
 #include <unistd.h>
@@ -29,6 +30,38 @@ const char* ffOptionsParseGeneralJsonConfig(FFOptionsGeneral* options, yyjson_va
             options->detectVersion = yyjson_get_bool(val);
         } else if (unsafe_yyjson_equals_str(key, "playerName")) {
             ffStrbufSetJsonVal(&options->playerName, val);
+        } else if (unsafe_yyjson_equals_str(key, "preload")) {
+            if (!yyjson_is_obj(val)) {
+                return "Property 'general.preload' must be an object";
+            }
+
+            yyjson_val* script = yyjson_obj_get(val, "lua");
+            if (script) {
+                if (!yyjson_is_str(script)) {
+                    return "Property 'general.preload.lua' must be a string";
+                }
+
+#if FF_HAVE_LUA
+                const char* error = ffLuaLoadState();
+                if (error) {
+                    return error;
+                }
+
+                lua_State* L = luaData.L;
+                lua_settop(L, 0);
+                if (luaL_loadbuffer(L, unsafe_yyjson_get_str(script), unsafe_yyjson_get_len(script), "@general.preload.lua") != LUA_OK ||
+                    lua_pcall(L, 0, 0, 0) != LUA_OK) {
+                    // The position Lua puts in front of a message is kept here: this is printed once, so naming the
+                    // line of the preload script that raised it is useful. `lua_tolstring` only converts strings and
+                    // numbers, so an error value of any other type leaves nothing to report.
+                    return lua_tolstring(L, -1, nullptr) ?: "the script raised an error that is not a string";
+                }
+                lua_settop(L, 0);
+
+#else
+                return "Property 'general.preload.lua' requires a build with Lua support";
+#endif
+            }
         }
 #if defined(__linux__) || defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__sun) || defined(__OpenBSD__) || defined(__NetBSD__) || defined(__HAIKU__) || defined(__GNU__)
         else if (unsafe_yyjson_equals_str(key, "dsForceDrm")) {