diff --git a/git/config.py b/git/config.py
index 2d9adbdd9..b7ddf0d22 100644
--- a/git/config.py
+++ b/git/config.py
@@ -386,6 +386,8 @@ def read(self):
             # We expect all paths to be normalized and absolute (and will assure that is the case)
             if self._has_includes():
                 for _, include_path in self.items('include'):
+                    if include_path.startswith('~'):
+                        include_path = os.path.expanduser(include_path)
                     if not os.path.isabs(include_path):
                         if not close_fp:
                             continue