diff --git a/beets/ui/__init__.py b/beets/ui/__init__.py
index cf2162337c..294b466d6c 100644
--- a/beets/ui/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/ui/__init__.py
@@ -1601,7 +1601,7 @@ def parse_csl_callback(
     ):
         from beets.ui.commands.config import config_edit
 
-        return config_edit()
+        return config_edit(options)
 
     test_lib = bool(lib)
     subcommands, lib = _setup(options, lib)
diff --git a/beets/ui/commands/config.py b/beets/ui/commands/config.py
index 3581c66472..15d5713246 100644
--- a/beets/ui/commands/config.py
+++ b/beets/ui/commands/config.py
@@ -30,7 +30,10 @@ def config_func(lib, opts, args):
 
     # Open in editor.
     elif opts.edit:
-        config_edit()
+        # Note:  This branch *should* be unreachable
+        # since the normal flow should be short-circuited
+        # by the special case in ui._raw_main
+        config_edit(opts)
 
     # Dump configuration.
     else:
@@ -41,11 +44,11 @@ def config_func(lib, opts, args):
             print("Empty configuration")
 
 
-def config_edit():
+def config_edit(cli_options):
     """Open a program to edit the user configuration.
     An empty config file is created if no existing config file exists.
     """
-    path = config.user_config_path()
+    path = cli_options.config or config.user_config_path()
     editor = editor_command()
     try:
         if not os.path.isfile(path):
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index fbb7573f55..64f69b7922 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ Bug fixes:
   audio-features endpoint, the plugin logs a warning once and skips audio
   features for all remaining tracks in the session, avoiding unnecessary API
   calls and rate limit exhaustion.
+- Running `beet --config <mypath> config -e` now edits `<mypath>` rather than
+  the default config path. :bug:`5652`
 - :doc:`plugins/lyrics`: Accepts strings for lyrics sources (previously only
   accepted a list of strings). :bug:`5962`
 
diff --git a/test/ui/commands/test_config.py b/test/ui/commands/test_config.py
index b68c4f0427..c1215ef43e 100644
--- a/test/ui/commands/test_config.py
+++ b/test/ui/commands/test_config.py
@@ -128,3 +128,11 @@ def test_edit_invalid_config_file(self):
         with patch("os.execlp") as execlp:
             self.run_command("config", "-e")
         execlp.assert_called_once_with("myeditor", "myeditor", self.config_path)
+
+    def test_edit_config_with_custom_config_path(self):
+        os.environ["EDITOR"] = "myeditor"
+        with patch("os.execlp") as execlp:
+            self.run_command("--config", self.cli_config_path, "config", "-e")
+        execlp.assert_called_once_with(
+            "myeditor", "myeditor", self.cli_config_path
+        )