diff --git a/callback_var_test.go b/callback_var_test.go
index 58ccd77..3fb342f 100644
--- a/callback_var_test.go
+++ b/callback_var_test.go
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func TestFailCallback(t *testing.T) {
 	tearDown(t.Name())
 }
 
-func updateCallbackFunc(toolName string, cliOutput io.Writer) func() {
+func updateCallbackFunc(_ string, cliOutput io.Writer) func() {
 	return func() {
 		fmt.Fprintf(cliOutput, "updated successfully!")
 	}
diff --git a/goflags.go b/goflags.go
index 3432734..5690414 100644
--- a/goflags.go
+++ b/goflags.go
@@ -697,7 +697,7 @@ func (flagSet *FlagSet) displayGroupUsageFunc(uniqueDeduper *uniqueDeduper, grou
 }
 
 // displaySingleFlagUsageFunc displays usage for a single flag
-func (flagSet *FlagSet) displaySingleFlagUsageFunc(name string, data *FlagData, cliOutput io.Writer, writer *tabwriter.Writer) {
+func (flagSet *FlagSet) displaySingleFlagUsageFunc(name string, data *FlagData, _ io.Writer, writer *tabwriter.Writer) {
 	if currentFlag := flagSet.CommandLine.Lookup(name); currentFlag != nil {
 		result := createUsageString(data, currentFlag)
 		fmt.Fprint(writer, result, "\n")
diff --git a/ratelimit_var.go b/ratelimit_var.go
index bcd9cdb..e02ad51 100644
--- a/ratelimit_var.go
+++ b/ratelimit_var.go
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func (rateLimitMap *RateLimitMap) Del(key string) error {
 
 // IsEmpty specifies if the underlying map is empty
 func (rateLimitMap *RateLimitMap) IsEmpty() bool {
-	return rateLimitMap.kv == nil || len(rateLimitMap.kv) == 0
+	return len(rateLimitMap.kv) == 0
 }
 
 // AsMap returns the internal map as reference - changes are allowed
diff --git a/runtime_map.go b/runtime_map.go
index f0af3e7..f7d0916 100644
--- a/runtime_map.go
+++ b/runtime_map.go
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 package goflags
 
 import (
+	"bufio"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"strings"
 
+	fileutil "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/file"
 	stringsutil "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/strings"
 )
 
@@ -39,6 +42,25 @@ func (runtimeMap *RuntimeMap) Set(value string) error {
 	if idxSep := strings.Index(value, kvSep); idxSep > 0 {
 		k = value[:idxSep]
 		v = value[idxSep+1:]
+	} else {
+		// this could be a file if so check and load it
+		if fileutil.FileExists(value) {
+			f, err := os.Open(value)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			defer f.Close()
+			scanner := bufio.NewScanner(f)
+			for scanner.Scan() {
+				text := scanner.Text()
+				if idxSep := strings.Index(text, kvSep); idxSep > 0 {
+					runtimeMap.kv[text[:idxSep]] = text[idxSep+1:]
+				}
+			}
+			if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
 	}
 	// note:
 	// - inserting multiple times the same key will override the previous value
@@ -60,7 +82,7 @@ func (runtimeMap *RuntimeMap) Del(key string) error {
 
 // IsEmpty specifies if the underlying map is empty
 func (runtimeMap *RuntimeMap) IsEmpty() bool {
-	return runtimeMap.kv == nil || len(runtimeMap.kv) == 0
+	return len(runtimeMap.kv) == 0
 }
 
 // AsMap returns the internal map as reference - changes are allowed
diff --git a/runtime_map_test.go b/runtime_map_test.go
index 94f9f83..60fc5cb 100644
--- a/runtime_map_test.go
+++ b/runtime_map_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package goflags
 
 import (
+	"os"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
@@ -13,4 +15,19 @@ func TestRuntimeMap(t *testing.T) {
 
 	returned := data.AsMap()["variable"]
 	require.Equal(t, "value", returned, "could not get correct return")
+
+	t.Run("file", func(t *testing.T) {
+		sb := &strings.Builder{}
+		sb.WriteString("variable=value\n")
+		sb.WriteString("variable2=value2\n")
+		tempFile, err := os.CreateTemp(t.TempDir(), "test")
+		require.NoError(t, err, "could not create temp file")
+		_, err = tempFile.WriteString(sb.String())
+		require.NoError(t, err, "could not write to temp file")
+		err = data.Set(tempFile.Name())
+		require.NoError(t, err, "could not set key-value")
+		require.Equal(t, 2, len(data.AsMap()), "could not get correct number of key-values")
+		require.Equal(t, "value", data.AsMap()["variable"], "could not get correct value")
+		require.Equal(t, "value2", data.AsMap()["variable2"], "could not get correct value")
+	})
 }