diff --git a/pkg/config/app.go b/pkg/config/app.go
index a6166e2e..7082db79 100644
--- a/pkg/config/app.go
+++ b/pkg/config/app.go
@@ -437,27 +437,56 @@ func GetAppStatuses(apps []App, MachineReadable bool) (map[string]map[string]str
 	return statuses, nil
 }
 
+// ensurePathExists ensures that a path exists.
+func ensurePathExists(path string) error {
+	if _, err := os.Stat(path); err != nil && os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // GetComposeFiles gets the list of compose files for an app (or recipe if you
 // don't already have an app) which should be merged into a composetypes.Config
 // while respecting the COMPOSE_FILE env var.
 func GetComposeFiles(recipe string, appEnv AppEnv) ([]string, error) {
 	var composeFiles []string
 
-	if _, ok := appEnv["COMPOSE_FILE"]; !ok {
-		logrus.Debug("no COMPOSE_FILE detected, loading compose.yml")
+	composeFileEnvVar, ok := appEnv["COMPOSE_FILE"]
+	if !ok {
 		path := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s/compose.yml", RECIPES_DIR, recipe)
+		if err := ensurePathExists(path); err != nil {
+			return composeFiles, err
+		}
+		logrus.Debugf("no COMPOSE_FILE detected, loading default: %s", path)
 		composeFiles = append(composeFiles, path)
 		return composeFiles, nil
 	}
 
-	composeFileEnvVar := appEnv["COMPOSE_FILE"]
-	envVars := strings.Split(composeFileEnvVar, ":")
-	logrus.Debugf("COMPOSE_FILE detected (%s), loading %s", composeFileEnvVar, strings.Join(envVars, ", "))
-	for _, file := range strings.Split(composeFileEnvVar, ":") {
+	if !strings.Contains(composeFileEnvVar, ":") {
+		path := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s/%s", RECIPES_DIR, recipe, composeFileEnvVar)
+		if err := ensurePathExists(path); err != nil {
+			return composeFiles, err
+		}
+		logrus.Debugf("COMPOSE_FILE detected, loading %s", path)
+		composeFiles = append(composeFiles, path)
+		return composeFiles, nil
+	}
+
+	numComposeFiles := strings.Count(composeFileEnvVar, ":") + 1
+	envVars := strings.SplitN(composeFileEnvVar, ":", numComposeFiles)
+	if len(envVars) != numComposeFiles {
+		return composeFiles, fmt.Errorf("COMPOSE_FILE (=\"%s\") parsing failed?", composeFileEnvVar)
+	}
+
+	for _, file := range envVars {
 		path := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s/%s", RECIPES_DIR, recipe, file)
+		if err := ensurePathExists(path); err != nil {
+			return composeFiles, err
+		}
 		composeFiles = append(composeFiles, path)
 	}
 
+	logrus.Debugf("COMPOSE_FILE detected (%s), loading %s", composeFileEnvVar, strings.Join(envVars, ", "))
 	logrus.Debugf("retrieved %s configs for %s", strings.Join(composeFiles, ", "), recipe)
 
 	return composeFiles, nil
diff --git a/pkg/config/app_test.go b/pkg/config/app_test.go
index 5403ca59..dbf91c05 100644
--- a/pkg/config/app_test.go
+++ b/pkg/config/app_test.go
@@ -1,12 +1,22 @@
 package config_test
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 
+	"coopcloud.tech/abra/pkg/catalogue"
 	"coopcloud.tech/abra/pkg/config"
+	"coopcloud.tech/abra/pkg/recipe"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
+func setup(t *testing.T) {
+	if err := catalogue.EnsureCatalogue(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestNewApp(t *testing.T) {
 	app, err := config.NewApp(ExpectedAppEnv, AppName, ExpectedAppFile)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -36,3 +46,74 @@ func TestGetApp(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("did not get expected app type. Expected: %s; Got: %s", app, ExpectedApp)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestGetComposeFiles(t *testing.T) {
+	setup(t)
+
+	offline := true
+	r, err := recipe.Get("abra-integration-test-recipe", offline)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		appEnv       map[string]string
+		composeFiles []string
+	}{
+		{
+			map[string]string{},
+			[]string{
+				fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s/compose.yml", config.RECIPES_DIR, r.Name),
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			map[string]string{"COMPOSE_FILE": "compose.yml"},
+			[]string{
+				fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s/compose.yml", config.RECIPES_DIR, r.Name),
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			map[string]string{"COMPOSE_FILE": "compose.extra_secret.yml"},
+			[]string{
+				fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s/compose.extra_secret.yml", config.RECIPES_DIR, r.Name),
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			map[string]string{"COMPOSE_FILE": "compose.yml:compose.extra_secret.yml"},
+			[]string{
+				fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s/compose.yml", config.RECIPES_DIR, r.Name),
+				fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s/compose.extra_secret.yml", config.RECIPES_DIR, r.Name),
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		composeFiles, err := config.GetComposeFiles(r.Name, test.appEnv)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		assert.Equal(t, composeFiles, test.composeFiles)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestGetComposeFilesError(t *testing.T) {
+	setup(t)
+
+	offline := true
+	r, err := recipe.Get("abra-integration-test-recipe", offline)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	tests := []struct{ appEnv map[string]string }{
+		{map[string]string{"COMPOSE_FILE": "compose.yml::compose.foo.yml"}},
+		{map[string]string{"COMPOSE_FILE": "doesnt.exist.yml"}},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		_, err := config.GetComposeFiles(r.Name, test.appEnv)
+		if err == nil {
+			t.Fatalf("should have failed: %v", test.appEnv)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/tests/integration/app_deploy.bats b/tests/integration/app_deploy.bats
index 3f81d225..071c2728 100644
--- a/tests/integration/app_deploy.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/app_deploy.bats
@@ -311,3 +311,20 @@ teardown(){
 
   _undeploy_app
 }
+
+# bats test_tags=slow
+@test "COMPOSE_FILE with \$COMPOSE_FILE override works" {
+  run sed -i 's/#COMPOSE_FILE="$COMPOSE_FILE:compose.extra_env.yml"/COMPOSE_FILE="$COMPOSE_FILE:compose.extra_env.yml"/g' \
+    "$ABRA_DIR/servers/$TEST_SERVER/$TEST_APP_DOMAIN.env"
+  assert_success
+
+  # NOTE(d1): --chaos used to bypass versions and access compose.extra_env.yml
+  run $ABRA app deploy "$TEST_APP_DOMAIN" \
+    --no-input --no-converge-checks --chaos
+  assert_success
+  assert_output --partial "compose.yml"
+  assert_output --partial "compose.extra_env.yml"
+
+  _undeploy_app
+  _reset_app
+}
diff --git a/tests/integration/app_secret.bats b/tests/integration/app_secret.bats
index 23451ad8..bd847a14 100644
--- a/tests/integration/app_secret.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/app_secret.bats
@@ -26,19 +26,6 @@ teardown(){
   fi
 }
 
-_reset_app(){
-  run rm -rf "$ABRA_DIR/servers/$TEST_SERVER/$TEST_APP_DOMAIN.env"
-  assert_success
-  assert_not_exists "$ABRA_DIR/servers/$TEST_SERVER/$TEST_APP_DOMAIN.env"
-
-  run $ABRA app new "$TEST_RECIPE" \
-    --no-input \
-    --server "$TEST_SERVER" \
-    --domain "$TEST_APP_DOMAIN" \
-  assert_success
-  assert_exists "$ABRA_DIR/servers/$TEST_SERVER/$TEST_APP_DOMAIN.env"
-}
-
 setup(){
   load "$PWD/tests/integration/helpers/common"
   _common_setup
diff --git a/tests/integration/helpers/app.bash b/tests/integration/helpers/app.bash
index 17dbbc2f..ee3e30f6 100644
--- a/tests/integration/helpers/app.bash
+++ b/tests/integration/helpers/app.bash
@@ -40,3 +40,16 @@ _rm_app() {
     run $ABRA app remove "$TEST_APP_DOMAIN" --no-input
   fi
 }
+
+_reset_app(){
+  run rm -rf "$ABRA_DIR/servers/$TEST_SERVER/$TEST_APP_DOMAIN.env"
+  assert_success
+  assert_not_exists "$ABRA_DIR/servers/$TEST_SERVER/$TEST_APP_DOMAIN.env"
+
+  run $ABRA app new "$TEST_RECIPE" \
+    --no-input \
+    --server "$TEST_SERVER" \
+    --domain "$TEST_APP_DOMAIN" \
+  assert_success
+  assert_exists "$ABRA_DIR/servers/$TEST_SERVER/$TEST_APP_DOMAIN.env"
+}