diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 6b794e3f7f4dd1..e207d6a65f7d7f 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -9107,6 +9107,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "lsp",
  "node_runtime",
  "parking_lot",
+ "paths",
  "pet",
  "pet-conda",
  "pet-core",
diff --git a/crates/extension_host/src/extension_host.rs b/crates/extension_host/src/extension_host.rs
index 415ddc4e2ddedb..ea51f554104c0b 100644
--- a/crates/extension_host/src/extension_host.rs
+++ b/crates/extension_host/src/extension_host.rs
@@ -1306,6 +1306,7 @@ impl ExtensionStore {
                 Path::new(language.extension.as_ref()),
                 language.path.as_path(),
             ]);
+            let language_name = language_name.clone();
             self.proxy.register_language(
                 language_name.clone(),
                 language.grammar.clone(),
@@ -1314,7 +1315,7 @@ impl ExtensionStore {
                 Arc::new(move || {
                     let config = std::fs::read_to_string(language_path.join("config.toml"))?;
                     let config: LanguageConfig = ::toml::from_str(&config)?;
-                    let queries = load_plugin_queries(&language_path);
+                    let queries = load_plugin_queries(&language_name, &language_path);
                     let context_provider =
                         std::fs::read_to_string(language_path.join("tasks.json"))
                             .ok()
@@ -1879,14 +1880,24 @@ impl ExtensionStore {
     }
 }
 
-fn load_plugin_queries(root_path: &Path) -> LanguageQueries {
+fn load_plugin_queries(language_name: &LanguageName, root_path: &Path) -> LanguageQueries {
     let mut result = LanguageQueries::default();
+    load_query_dir(&mut result, root_path);
+    load_query_dir(
+        &mut result,
+        &paths::languages_config_dir().join(language_name.as_ref()),
+    );
+    result
+}
+
+fn load_query_dir(result: &mut LanguageQueries, root_path: &Path) {
     if let Some(entries) = std::fs::read_dir(root_path).log_err() {
         for entry in entries {
             let Some(entry) = entry.log_err() else {
                 continue;
             };
             let path = entry.path();
+            log::debug!("Found language dir at {path:?}");
             if let Some(remainder) = path.strip_prefix(root_path).ok().and_then(|p| p.to_str()) {
                 if !remainder.ends_with(".scm") {
                     continue;
@@ -1894,8 +1905,9 @@ fn load_plugin_queries(root_path: &Path) -> LanguageQueries {
                 for (name, query) in QUERY_FILENAME_PREFIXES {
                     if remainder.starts_with(name) {
                         if let Some(contents) = std::fs::read_to_string(&path).log_err() {
-                            match query(&mut result) {
-                                None => *query(&mut result) = Some(contents.into()),
+                            log::debug!("Found query at {path:?}");
+                            match query(result) {
+                                None => *query(result) = Some(contents.into()),
                                 Some(r) => r.to_mut().push_str(contents.as_ref()),
                             }
                         }
@@ -1905,5 +1917,4 @@ fn load_plugin_queries(root_path: &Path) -> LanguageQueries {
             }
         }
     }
-    result
 }
diff --git a/crates/languages/Cargo.toml b/crates/languages/Cargo.toml
index 8529bdb82ace33..41e4790ece1e5a 100644
--- a/crates/languages/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/languages/Cargo.toml
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ log.workspace = true
 lsp.workspace = true
 node_runtime.workspace = true
 parking_lot.workspace = true
+paths.workspace = true
 pet-conda.workspace = true
 pet-core.workspace = true
 pet-fs.workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/languages/src/lib.rs b/crates/languages/src/lib.rs
index 7e7b83b3cb5ce8..6a5c3d25e139c8 100644
--- a/crates/languages/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/languages/src/lib.rs
@@ -435,5 +435,40 @@ fn load_queries(name: &str) -> LanguageQueries {
             }
         }
     }
+
+    // TODO: dedupe this logic with extension_host? Also, should there be some kind of
+    // reload logic to pick up changes in the external queries for builtin langs?
+    let root_path = paths::languages_config_dir().join(name);
+    let config_dir = std::fs::read_dir(&root_path)
+        .context(format!("reading directory: {root_path:?}"))
+        .log_with_level(log::Level::Debug);
+
+    if let Some(entries) = config_dir {
+        log::debug!("adding queries from {root_path:?}");
+        for entry in entries {
+            let Some(entry) = entry.log_err() else {
+                continue;
+            };
+            let path = entry.path();
+            if let Some(remainder) = path.strip_prefix(&root_path).ok().and_then(|p| p.to_str()) {
+                if !remainder.ends_with(".scm") {
+                    continue;
+                }
+                log::debug!("Found query at {path:?}");
+                for (name, query, _) in QUERY_FILENAME_PREFIXES {
+                    if remainder.starts_with(name) {
+                        if let Some(contents) = std::fs::read_to_string(&path).log_err() {
+                            match query(&mut result) {
+                                None => *query(&mut result) = Some(contents.into()),
+                                Some(r) => r.to_mut().push_str(&contents),
+                            }
+                        }
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     result
 }
diff --git a/crates/paths/src/paths.rs b/crates/paths/src/paths.rs
index a6aa8354b4661f..67a0d3e3ba1cb5 100644
--- a/crates/paths/src/paths.rs
+++ b/crates/paths/src/paths.rs
@@ -291,6 +291,12 @@ pub fn snippets_dir() -> &'static PathBuf {
     SNIPPETS_DIR.get_or_init(|| config_dir().join("snippets"))
 }
 
+/// Returns the path to the user languages directory.
+pub fn languages_config_dir() -> &'static PathBuf {
+    static LANGUAGES_CONFIG_DIR: OnceLock<PathBuf> = OnceLock::new();
+    LANGUAGES_CONFIG_DIR.get_or_init(|| config_dir().join("languages"))
+}
+
 /// Returns the path to the contexts directory.
 ///
 /// This is where the saved contexts from the Assistant are stored.
diff --git a/docs/src/extensions/languages.md b/docs/src/extensions/languages.md
index 8bbf3d881084d6..c951d714cb3111 100644
--- a/docs/src/extensions/languages.md
+++ b/docs/src/extensions/languages.md
@@ -75,6 +75,11 @@ several features:
 The following sections elaborate on how [Tree-sitter queries](https://tree-sitter.github.io/tree-sitter/using-parsers/queries/index.html) enable these
 features in Zed, using [JSON syntax](https://www.json.org/json-en.html) as a guiding example.
 
+Note that user-defined queries may also be defined in `~/.config/zed/languages` (macOS and Linux) or `%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Zed\languages\` (Windows).
+If found, the queries will be appended to builtin queries or queries from extensions.
+
+For example, to add a new language injection to Rust, create a query file at `~/.config/zed/languages/rust/injections.scm`. Note that Zed may need to be restarted for these changes to take effect.
+
 ### Syntax highlighting
 
 In Tree-sitter, the `highlights.scm` file defines syntax highlighting rules for a particular syntax.
diff --git a/docs/src/themes.md b/docs/src/themes.md
index 615cd2c7b38a73..04f04af382b998 100644
--- a/docs/src/themes.md
+++ b/docs/src/themes.md
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ For example, add the following to your `settings.json` if you wish to override t
 }
 ```
 
-To see a comprehensive list of list of captures (like `comment` and `comment.doc`) see [Language Extensions: Syntax highlighting](./extensions/languages.md#syntax-highlighting).
+To see a comprehensive list of list of captures (like `comment` and `comment.doc`) see [Language Extensions: Syntax highlighting](./extensions/languages.md#syntax-highlighting). To add new captures, you can use a [custom Tree-sitter query](./extensions/languages.md#tree-sitter-queries).
 
 To see a list of available theme attributes look at the JSON file for your theme.
 For example, [assets/themes/one/one.json](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/themes/one/one.json) for the default One Dark and One Light themes.