diff --git a/aider/main.py b/aider/main.py
index 0f08ad835..fe4e8517c 100644
--- a/aider/main.py
+++ b/aider/main.py
@@ -380,6 +380,12 @@ def main(argv=None, input=None, output=None, force_git_root=None):
         metavar="COMMAND",
         help="Specify a single message to send GPT, process reply then exit (disables chat mode)",
     )
+    other_group.add_argument(
+        "--message-file",
+        "-mf",
+        metavar="MESSAGE_FILE",
+        help="Specify a file containing the message to send GPT, process reply, then exit (disables chat mode)",
+    )
     other_group.add_argument(
         "--encoding",
         default="utf-8",
@@ -563,6 +569,18 @@ def main(argv=None, input=None, output=None, force_git_root=None):
         io.add_to_input_history(args.message)
         io.tool_output()
         coder.run(with_message=args.message)
+    elif args.message_file:
+        try:
+            with open(args.message_file, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as file:
+                message_from_file = file.read()
+            io.tool_output()
+            coder.run(with_message=message_from_file)
+        except FileNotFoundError:
+            io.tool_error(f"Message file not found: {args.message_file}")
+            return 1
+        except IOError as e:
+            io.tool_error(f"Error reading message file: {e}")
+            return 1
     else:
         coder.run()