diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index ca056887..70dc75b0 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -286,6 +286,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi 0.3.9",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "dtoa"
+version = "0.4.8"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "56899898ce76aaf4a0f24d914c97ea6ed976d42fec6ad33fcbb0a1103e07b2b0"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "either"
 version = "1.6.1"
@@ -544,6 +550,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "color-eyre",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
+ "serde_yaml",
  "strum",
 ]
 
@@ -584,6 +591,12 @@ version = "0.2.103"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "dd8f7255a17a627354f321ef0055d63b898c6fb27eff628af4d1b66b7331edf6"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "linked-hash-map"
+version = "0.5.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7fb9b38af92608140b86b693604b9ffcc5824240a484d1ecd4795bacb2fe88f3"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "lock_api"
 version = "0.4.5"
@@ -1111,6 +1124,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_yaml"
+version = "0.8.21"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d8c608a35705a5d3cdc9fbe403147647ff34b921f8e833e49306df898f9b20af"
+dependencies = [
+ "dtoa",
+ "indexmap",
+ "serde",
+ "yaml-rust",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "sharded-slab"
 version = "0.1.4"
@@ -1525,3 +1550,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi 0.2.8",
  "winapi-build",
 ]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "yaml-rust"
+version = "0.4.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "56c1936c4cc7a1c9ab21a1ebb602eb942ba868cbd44a99cb7cdc5892335e1c85"
+dependencies = [
+ "linked-hash-map",
+]
diff --git a/komorebi-core/Cargo.toml b/komorebi-core/Cargo.toml
index efa83547..3e22f028 100644
--- a/komorebi-core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/komorebi-core/Cargo.toml
@@ -12,4 +12,5 @@ clap = "3.0.0-beta.4"
 color-eyre = "0.5"
 serde = { version = "1", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1"
+serde_yaml = "0.8"
 strum = { version = "0.21", features = ["derive"] }
diff --git a/komorebi-core/src/custom_layout.rs b/komorebi-core/src/custom_layout.rs
index 79ad64d6..08cc5393 100644
--- a/komorebi-core/src/custom_layout.rs
+++ b/komorebi-core/src/custom_layout.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::fs::File;
+use std::io::BufReader;
 use std::ops::Deref;
+use std::path::PathBuf;
 
+use color_eyre::eyre::anyhow;
+use color_eyre::Result;
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use serde::Serialize;
 
@@ -18,6 +23,28 @@ impl Deref for CustomLayout {
 }
 
 impl CustomLayout {
+    pub fn from_path_buf(path: PathBuf) -> Result<Self> {
+        let invalid_filetype = anyhow!("custom layouts must be json or yaml files");
+        let layout: Self = match path.extension() {
+            Some(extension) => {
+                if extension == "yaml" || extension == "yml" {
+                    serde_yaml::from_reader(BufReader::new(File::open(path)?))?
+                } else if extension == "json" {
+                    serde_json::from_reader(BufReader::new(File::open(path)?))?
+                } else {
+                    return Err(invalid_filetype);
+                }
+            }
+            None => return Err(invalid_filetype),
+        };
+
+        if !layout.is_valid() {
+            return Err(anyhow!("the layout file provided was invalid"));
+        }
+
+        Ok(layout)
+    }
+
     #[must_use]
     pub fn column_with_idx(&self, idx: usize) -> (usize, Option<&Column>) {
         let column_idx = self.column_for_container_idx(idx);
diff --git a/komorebi/src/window_manager.rs b/komorebi/src/window_manager.rs
index ab1864d4..7b43500d 100644
--- a/komorebi/src/window_manager.rs
+++ b/komorebi/src/window_manager.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 use std::collections::VecDeque;
-use std::fs::File;
-use std::io::BufReader;
 use std::io::ErrorKind;
 use std::num::NonZeroUsize;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
@@ -1059,11 +1057,8 @@ impl WindowManager {
     #[tracing::instrument(skip(self))]
     pub fn change_workspace_custom_layout(&mut self, path: PathBuf) -> Result<()> {
         tracing::info!("changing layout");
-        let layout: CustomLayout = serde_json::from_reader(BufReader::new(File::open(path)?))?;
-        if !layout.is_valid() {
-            return Err(anyhow!("the layout file provided was invalid"));
-        }
 
+        let layout = CustomLayout::from_path_buf(path)?;
         let workspace = self.focused_workspace_mut()?;
 
         match workspace.layout() {
@@ -1182,13 +1177,7 @@ impl WindowManager {
         path: PathBuf,
     ) -> Result<()> {
         tracing::info!("setting workspace layout");
-        let file = File::open(path)?;
-        let reader = BufReader::new(file);
-        let layout: CustomLayout = serde_json::from_reader(reader)?;
-        if !layout.is_valid() {
-            return Err(anyhow!("the layout file provided was invalid"));
-        }
-
+        let layout = CustomLayout::from_path_buf(path)?;
         let invisible_borders = self.invisible_borders;
         let offset = self.work_area_offset;
         let focused_monitor_idx = self.focused_monitor_idx();
diff --git a/komorebic/src/main.rs b/komorebic/src/main.rs
index 0a2a176c..e42692a2 100644
--- a/komorebic/src/main.rs
+++ b/komorebic/src/main.rs
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ struct Load {
 
 #[derive(Clap, AhkFunction)]
 struct LoadLayout {
-    /// File from which the custom layout definition should be loaded
+    /// JSON or YAML file from which the custom layout definition should be loaded
     path: String,
 }