diff --git a/src/xinit.c b/src/xinit.c
index 9016c561..4c81540d 100644
--- a/src/xinit.c
+++ b/src/xinit.c
@@ -2818,6 +2818,9 @@ int Tcl_AppInit(Tcl_Interp *inter)
    tcleval(cli_opt_tcl_post_command);
  }
 
+ /* Execute tcl commands given in tcl variable postinit_commands if existing */
+ tcleval("eval_postinit_commands");
+
  if(cli_opt_quit) {
    tcleval("exit");
  }
diff --git a/src/xschem.tcl b/src/xschem.tcl
index 57229bed..4a97d479 100644
--- a/src/xschem.tcl
+++ b/src/xschem.tcl
@@ -6477,6 +6477,13 @@ proc source_user_tcl_files {} {
   }
 }
 
+proc eval_postinit_commands {} {
+  global postinit_commands
+  if {[info exists postinit_commands]} {
+    catch {eval $postinit_commands}
+  }
+}
+
 proc setup_tcp_xschem { {port_number {}} } {
   global xschem_listen_port xschem_server_getdata