diff --git a/.changeset/eight-beans-visit.md b/.changeset/eight-beans-visit.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5a6af9c839b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/eight-beans-visit.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@smithy/shared-ini-file-loader": patch
+---
+
+read config files from paths relative to homedir
diff --git a/packages/shared-ini-file-loader/src/loadSharedConfigFiles.spec.ts b/packages/shared-ini-file-loader/src/loadSharedConfigFiles.spec.ts
index b966188d055..1ff7e332dc8 100644
--- a/packages/shared-ini-file-loader/src/loadSharedConfigFiles.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/shared-ini-file-loader/src/loadSharedConfigFiles.spec.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { getConfigData } from "./getConfigData";
 import { getConfigFilepath } from "./getConfigFilepath";
 import { getCredentialsFilepath } from "./getCredentialsFilepath";
+import { getHomeDir } from "./getHomeDir";
 import { loadSharedConfigFiles } from "./loadSharedConfigFiles";
 import { parseIni } from "./parseIni";
 import { slurpFile } from "./slurpFile";
@@ -10,6 +11,7 @@ jest.mock("./getConfigFilepath");
 jest.mock("./getCredentialsFilepath");
 jest.mock("./parseIni");
 jest.mock("./slurpFile");
+jest.mock("./getHomeDir");
 
 describe("loadSharedConfigFiles", () => {
   const mockConfigFilepath = "/mock/file/path/config";
@@ -18,6 +20,7 @@ describe("loadSharedConfigFiles", () => {
     configFile: mockConfigFilepath,
     credentialsFile: mockCredsFilepath,
   };
+  const mockHomeDir = "/users/alias";
 
   beforeEach(() => {
     (getConfigFilepath as jest.Mock).mockReturnValue(mockConfigFilepath);
@@ -25,6 +28,7 @@ describe("loadSharedConfigFiles", () => {
     (parseIni as jest.Mock).mockImplementation((args) => args);
     (getConfigData as jest.Mock).mockImplementation((args) => args);
     (slurpFile as jest.Mock).mockImplementation((path) => Promise.resolve(path));
+    (getHomeDir as jest.Mock).mockReturnValue(mockHomeDir);
   });
 
   afterEach(() => {
@@ -49,6 +53,20 @@ describe("loadSharedConfigFiles", () => {
     expect(getCredentialsFilepath).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it("expands homedir in configFile and credentialsFile from init if defined", async () => {
+    const sharedConfigFiles = await loadSharedConfigFiles({
+      filepath: "~/path/credentials",
+      configFilepath: "~/path/config",
+    });
+    expect(sharedConfigFiles).toStrictEqual({
+      configFile: "/users/alias/path/config",
+      credentialsFile: "/users/alias/path/credentials",
+    });
+    expect(getHomeDir).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(getConfigFilepath).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(getCredentialsFilepath).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
   describe("swallows error and returns empty configuration", () => {
     it("when readFile throws error", async () => {
       (slurpFile as jest.Mock).mockRejectedValue("error");
diff --git a/packages/shared-ini-file-loader/src/loadSharedConfigFiles.ts b/packages/shared-ini-file-loader/src/loadSharedConfigFiles.ts
index 9bf6336e877..21255090def 100644
--- a/packages/shared-ini-file-loader/src/loadSharedConfigFiles.ts
+++ b/packages/shared-ini-file-loader/src/loadSharedConfigFiles.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 import { Logger, SharedConfigFiles } from "@smithy/types";
+import { join } from "path";
 
 import { getConfigData } from "./getConfigData";
 import { getConfigFilepath } from "./getConfigFilepath";
 import { getCredentialsFilepath } from "./getCredentialsFilepath";
+import { getHomeDir } from "./getHomeDir";
 import { parseIni } from "./parseIni";
 import { slurpFile } from "./slurpFile";
 
@@ -39,15 +41,27 @@ export const CONFIG_PREFIX_SEPARATOR = ".";
 
 export const loadSharedConfigFiles = async (init: SharedConfigInit = {}): Promise<SharedConfigFiles> => {
   const { filepath = getCredentialsFilepath(), configFilepath = getConfigFilepath() } = init;
+  const homeDir = getHomeDir();
+  const relativeHomeDirPrefix = "~/";
+
+  let resolvedFilepath = filepath;
+  if (filepath.startsWith(relativeHomeDirPrefix)) {
+    resolvedFilepath = join(homeDir, filepath.slice(2));
+  }
+
+  let resolvedConfigFilepath = configFilepath;
+  if (configFilepath.startsWith(relativeHomeDirPrefix)) {
+    resolvedConfigFilepath = join(homeDir, configFilepath.slice(2));
+  }
 
   const parsedFiles = await Promise.all([
-    slurpFile(configFilepath, {
+    slurpFile(resolvedConfigFilepath, {
       ignoreCache: init.ignoreCache,
     })
       .then(parseIni)
       .then(getConfigData)
       .catch(swallowError),
-    slurpFile(filepath, {
+    slurpFile(resolvedFilepath, {
       ignoreCache: init.ignoreCache,
     })
       .then(parseIni)