diff --git a/_test/conf/tpl/dokuwiki/css/_tests.less b/_test/conf/tpl/dokuwiki/css/_tests.less
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f1839f03c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_test/conf/tpl/dokuwiki/css/_tests.less
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/* dummy file */
diff --git a/_test/conf/tpl/dokuwiki/style.ini b/_test/conf/tpl/dokuwiki/style.ini
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7eab6e1ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_test/conf/tpl/dokuwiki/style.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+[stylesheets]
+css/_tests.less = screen
+
+[replacements]
+__background__ = "#f2ecec"
+__custom_variable__ = "#5e4040"
+__custom_variable_two__ = "url(test/foo.png)"
diff --git a/_test/tests/inc/styleutils_cssstyleini.test.php b/_test/tests/inc/styleutils_cssstyleini.test.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bbb10c3c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_test/tests/inc/styleutils_cssstyleini.test.php
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+<?php
+
+class styleutils_cssstyleini_test extends DokuWikiTest {
+
+    function test_mergedstyleini() {
+        $util = new \dokuwiki\StyleUtils('dokuwiki', false, true);
+
+        $expected = array (
+            'stylesheets' =>
+                array (
+                    'screen' =>
+                        array (
+                            DOKU_CONF . 'tpl/dokuwiki/css/_tests.less' => '/./',
+                            DOKU_INC . 'lib/tpl/dokuwiki/css/content.less' => '/./lib/tpl/dokuwiki/',
+                        ),
+                ),
+            'replacements' =>
+                array (
+                    '__text__' => '#333',
+                    '__background__' => '#f2ecec',
+                    '__custom_variable__' => '#5e4040',
+                    '__custom_variable_two__' => 'url(' . DOKU_BASE . 'test/foo.png)',
+                ),
+        );
+
+        $actual = $util->cssStyleini();
+
+        // check that all stylesheet levels are present
+        $this->assertArrayHasKey('all', $actual['stylesheets']);
+        $this->assertArrayHasKey('print', $actual['stylesheets']);
+
+        // check an original stylesheet and an additional one
+        $this->assertArraySubset($expected['stylesheets']['screen'], $actual['stylesheets']['screen']);
+
+        // merged config has an original value (text), an overridden value (background) and a new custom replacement (custom_variable)
+        $this->assertArraySubset($expected['replacements'], $actual['replacements']);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/inc/Manifest.php b/inc/Manifest.php
index 0df9c2b81..843c67265 100644
--- a/inc/Manifest.php
+++ b/inc/Manifest.php
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ class Manifest
         }
 
         $styleUtil = new \dokuwiki\StyleUtils();
-        $styleIni = $styleUtil->cssStyleini($conf['template']);
+        $styleIni = $styleUtil->cssStyleini();
         $replacements = $styleIni['replacements'];
 
         if (empty($manifest['background_color'])) {
diff --git a/inc/StyleUtils.php b/inc/StyleUtils.php
index e584942c0..ec5ad346f 100644
--- a/inc/StyleUtils.php
+++ b/inc/StyleUtils.php
@@ -4,6 +4,43 @@ namespace dokuwiki;
 
 class StyleUtils
 {
+
+    /** @var string current template */
+    protected $tpl;
+    /** @var bool reinitialize styles config */
+    protected $reinit;
+    /** @var bool $preview preview mode */
+    protected $preview;
+    /** @var array default replacements to be merged with custom style configs */
+    protected $defaultReplacements = array(
+        '__text__' => "#000",
+        '__background__' => "#fff",
+        '__text_alt__' => "#999",
+        '__background_alt__' => "#eee",
+        '__text_neu__' => "#666",
+        '__background_neu__' => "#ddd",
+        '__border__' => "#ccc",
+        '__highlight__' => "#ff9",
+        '__link__' => "#00f",
+    );
+
+    /**
+     * StyleUtils constructor.
+     * @param string $tpl template name: if not passed as argument, the default value from $conf will be used
+     * @param bool $preview
+     * @param bool $reinit whether static style conf should be reinitialized
+     */
+    public function __construct($tpl = '', $preview = false, $reinit = false)
+    {
+        if (!$tpl) {
+            global $conf;
+            $tpl = $conf['conf'];
+        }
+        $this->tpl = $tpl;
+        $this->reinit = $reinit;
+        $this->preview = $preview;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Load style ini contents
      *
@@ -11,94 +48,118 @@ class StyleUtils
      * the stylesheet modes
      *
      * @author Andreas Gohr <andi@splitbrain.org>
+     * @author Anna Dabrowska <info@cosmocode.de>
      *
-     * @param string $tpl the used template
-     * @param bool   $preview load preview replacements
      * @return array with keys 'stylesheets' and 'replacements'
      */
-    public function cssStyleini($tpl, $preview=false) {
-        global $conf;
-
-        $stylesheets = array(); // mode, file => base
-        // guaranteed placeholder => value
-        $replacements = array(
-            '__text__' => "#000",
-            '__background__' => "#fff",
-            '__text_alt__' => "#999",
-            '__background_alt__' => "#eee",
-            '__text_neu__' => "#666",
-            '__background_neu__' => "#ddd",
-            '__border__' => "#ccc",
-            '__highlight__' => "#ff9",
-            '__link__' => "#00f",
-        );
-
-        // load template's style.ini
-        $incbase = tpl_incdir($tpl);
-        $webbase = tpl_basedir($tpl);
-        $ini = $incbase.'style.ini';
-        if(file_exists($ini)){
-            $data = parse_ini_file($ini, true);
-
-            // stylesheets
-            if(is_array($data['stylesheets'])) foreach($data['stylesheets'] as $file => $mode){
-                if (!file_exists($incbase . $file)) {
-                    list($extension, $basename) = array_map('strrev', explode('.', strrev($file), 2));
-                    $newExtension = $extension === 'css' ? 'less' : 'css';
-                    if (file_exists($incbase . $basename . '.' . $newExtension)) {
-                        $stylesheets[$mode][$incbase . $basename . '.' . $newExtension] = $webbase;
-                        if ($conf['allowdebug']) {
-                            msg("Stylesheet $file not found, using $basename.$newExtension instead. Please contact developer of \"{$conf['template']}\" template.", 2);
-                        }
-                        continue;
-                    }
-                }
-                $stylesheets[$mode][$incbase . $file] = $webbase;
-            }
-
-            // replacements
-            if(is_array($data['replacements'])){
-                $replacements = array_merge($replacements, $this->cssFixreplacementurls($data['replacements'],$webbase));
-            }
+    public function cssStyleini()
+    {
+        static $combined = [];
+        if (!empty($combined) && !$this->reinit) {
+            return $combined;
         }
 
-        // load configs's style.ini
-        $webbase = DOKU_BASE;
-        $ini = DOKU_CONF."tpl/$tpl/style.ini";
-        $incbase = dirname($ini).'/';
-        if(file_exists($ini)){
-            $data = parse_ini_file($ini, true);
+        global $conf;
+        global $config_cascade;
+        $stylesheets = array(); // mode, file => base
 
-            // stylesheets
-            if(isset($data['stylesheets']) && is_array($data['stylesheets'])) foreach($data['stylesheets'] as $file => $mode){
-                $stylesheets[$mode][$incbase.$file] = $webbase;
-            }
+        // guaranteed placeholder => value
+        $replacements = $this->defaultReplacements;
 
-            // replacements
-            if(isset($data['replacements']) && is_array($data['replacements'])){
-                $replacements = array_merge($replacements, $this->cssFixreplacementurls($data['replacements'],$webbase));
-            }
+        // merge all styles from config cascade
+        if (!is_array($config_cascade['styleini'])) {
+            trigger_error('Missing config cascade for styleini', E_USER_WARNING);
         }
 
         // allow replacement overwrites in preview mode
-        if($preview) {
-            $webbase = DOKU_BASE;
-            $ini     = $conf['cachedir'].'/preview.ini';
-            if(file_exists($ini)) {
-                $data = parse_ini_file($ini, true);
-                // replacements
-                if(is_array($data['replacements'])) {
-                    $replacements = array_merge($replacements, $this->cssFixreplacementurls($data['replacements'], $webbase));
+        if ($this->preview) {
+            $config_cascade['styleini']['local'][] = $conf['cachedir'] . '/preview.ini';
+        }
+
+        $combined['stylesheets'] = [];
+        $combined['replacements'] = [];
+
+        foreach (array('default', 'local', 'protected') as $config_group) {
+            if (empty($config_cascade['styleini'][$config_group])) continue;
+
+            // set proper server dirs
+            $webbase = $this->getWebbase($config_group);
+
+            foreach ($config_cascade['styleini'][$config_group] as $inifile) {
+                // replace the placeholder with the name of the current template
+                $inifile = str_replace('%TEMPLATE%', $this->tpl, $inifile);
+
+                $incbase = dirname($inifile) . '/';
+
+                if (file_exists($inifile)) {
+                    $config = parse_ini_file($inifile, true);
+
+                    if (is_array($config['stylesheets'])) {
+
+                        foreach ($config['stylesheets'] as $inifile => $mode) {
+                            // validate and include style files
+                            $stylesheets = array_merge($stylesheets, $this->getValidatedStyles($stylesheets, $inifile, $mode, $incbase, $webbase));
+                            $combined['stylesheets'] = array_merge($combined['stylesheets'], $stylesheets);
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    if (is_array($config['replacements'])) {
+                        $replacements = array_replace($replacements, $this->cssFixreplacementurls($config['replacements'], $webbase));
+                        $combined['replacements'] = array_merge($combined['replacements'], $replacements);
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }
 
-        return array(
-            'stylesheets' => $stylesheets,
-            'replacements' => $replacements
-        );
+
+        return $combined;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Checks if configured style files exist and, if necessary, adjusts file extensions in config
+     *
+     * @param array $stylesheets
+     * @param string $file
+     * @param string $mode
+     * @param string $incbase
+     * @param string $webbase
+     * @return mixed
+     */
+    protected function getValidatedStyles($stylesheets, $file, $mode, $incbase, $webbase)
+    {
+        global $conf;
+        if (!file_exists($incbase . $file)) {
+            list($extension, $basename) = array_map('strrev', explode('.', strrev($file), 2));
+            $newExtension = $extension === 'css' ? 'less' : 'css';
+            if (file_exists($incbase . $basename . '.' . $newExtension)) {
+                $stylesheets[$mode][$incbase . $basename . '.' . $newExtension] = $webbase;
+                if ($conf['allowdebug']) {
+                    msg("Stylesheet $file not found, using $basename.$newExtension instead. Please contact developer of \"$this->tpl\" template.", 2);
+                }
+            } elseif ($conf['allowdebug']) {
+                msg("Stylesheet $file not found, please contact the developer of \"$this->tpl\" template.", 2);
+            }
+        }
+        $stylesheets[$mode][fullpath($incbase . $file)] = $webbase;
+        return $stylesheets;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the web base path for the given level/group in config cascade.
+     * Style resources are relative to the template directory for the main (default) styles
+     * but relative to DOKU_BASE for everything else"
+     *
+     * @param string $config_group
+     * @return string
+     */
+    protected function getWebbase($config_group)
+    {
+        if ($config_group === 'default') {
+            return tpl_basedir($this->tpl);
+        } else {
+            return DOKU_BASE;
+        }
+    }
 
     /**
      * Amend paths used in replacement relative urls, refer FS#2879
@@ -109,9 +170,10 @@ class StyleUtils
      * @param string $location
      * @return array
      */
-    protected function cssFixreplacementurls($replacements, $location) {
-        foreach($replacements as $key => $value) {
-            $replacements[$key] = preg_replace('#(url\([ \'"]*)(?!/|data:|http://|https://| |\'|")#','\\1'.$location,$value);
+    protected function cssFixreplacementurls($replacements, $location)
+    {
+        foreach ($replacements as $key => $value) {
+            $replacements[$key] = preg_replace('#(url\([ \'"]*)(?!/|data:|http://|https://| |\'|")#', '\\1' . $location, $value);
         }
         return $replacements;
     }
diff --git a/inc/config_cascade.php b/inc/config_cascade.php
index f0aa6cc7e..61d099c6e 100644
--- a/inc/config_cascade.php
+++ b/inc/config_cascade.php
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ $config_cascade = array_merge(
         'userscript' => array(
             'default'   => array(DOKU_CONF . 'userscript.js')
         ),
+        'styleini' => array(
+            'default'   => array(DOKU_INC . 'lib/tpl/%TEMPLATE%/' . 'style.ini'),
+            'local'     => array(DOKU_CONF . 'tpl/%TEMPLATE%/' . 'style.ini')
+        ),
         'acl' => array(
             'default'   => DOKU_CONF . 'acl.auth.php',
         ),
diff --git a/inc/template.php b/inc/template.php
index 03c7bf96f..93e0efdd0 100644
--- a/inc/template.php
+++ b/inc/template.php
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ function tpl_metaheaders($alt = true) {
     }
 
     $styleUtil = new \dokuwiki\StyleUtils();
-    $styleIni = $styleUtil->cssStyleini($conf['template']);
+    $styleIni = $styleUtil->cssStyleini();
     $replacements = $styleIni['replacements'];
     if (!empty($replacements['__theme_color__'])) {
         $head['meta'][] = array('name' => 'theme-color', 'content' => $replacements['__theme_color__']);
diff --git a/lib/exe/css.php b/lib/exe/css.php
index 943f3f4c2..19ae5570e 100644
--- a/lib/exe/css.php
+++ b/lib/exe/css.php
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@ function css_out(){
     if(!$tpl) $tpl = $conf['template'];
 
     // load style.ini
-    $styleUtil = new \dokuwiki\StyleUtils();
-    $styleini = $styleUtil->cssStyleini($tpl, $INPUT->bool('preview'));
+    $styleUtil = new \dokuwiki\StyleUtils($tpl, $INPUT->bool('preview'));
+    $styleini = $styleUtil->cssStyleini();
 
     // cache influencers
     $tplinc = tpl_incdir($tpl);
diff --git a/lib/plugins/styling/admin.php b/lib/plugins/styling/admin.php
index 055ac2279..e02f06604 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/styling/admin.php
+++ b/lib/plugins/styling/admin.php
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ class admin_plugin_styling extends DokuWiki_Admin_Plugin {
         global $conf;
         global $ID;
 
-        $styleUtil = new \dokuwiki\StyleUtils();
-        $styleini     = $styleUtil->cssStyleini($conf['template'], true);
+        $styleUtil = new \dokuwiki\StyleUtils($conf['template'], true);
+        $styleini     = $styleUtil->cssStyleini();
         $replacements = $styleini['replacements'];
 
         if($this->ispopup) {
diff --git a/lib/tpl/index.php b/lib/tpl/index.php
index d6f00343b..8b021511c 100644
--- a/lib/tpl/index.php
+++ b/lib/tpl/index.php
@@ -46,10 +46,10 @@ require_once(DOKU_INC.'inc/init.php');
 // get merged style.ini
 define('SIMPLE_TEST', true); // hack to prevent css output and headers
 require_once(DOKU_INC.'lib/exe/css.php');
-$styleUtils = new \dokuwiki\StyleUtils();
-$ini = $styleUtils->cssStyleini($conf['template']);
+$styleUtils = new \dokuwiki\StyleUtils($conf['template']);
+$ini = $styleUtils->cssStyleini();
 
-if ($ini) {
+if (!empty($ini)) {
     echo '<table>';
     echo "<caption>".hsc($conf['template'])."'s style.ini</caption>";
     foreach($ini['replacements'] as $key => $val){