diff --git a/tests/test_arguments.py b/tests/test_arguments.py
index 9a762e2..9fbd841 100644
--- a/tests/test_arguments.py
+++ b/tests/test_arguments.py
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ class MainTestCase(utils.TestCase):
             now = u(int(time.time()))
             key = str(uuid.uuid4())
 
-            args = ['--file', entity, '--key', key, '--time', now]
+            args = ['--file', entity, '--key', key, '--time', now, '--config', 'fake-foobar']
 
             retval = execute(args)
             self.assertEquals(sys.stdout.getvalue(), '')
diff --git a/tests/test_main.py b/tests/test_main.py
index 6920237..ac67843 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/test_main.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ from wakatime.compat import u, is_py3
 from wakatime.constants import (
     API_ERROR,
     AUTH_ERROR,
+    MAX_FILE_SIZE_SUPPORTED,
     SUCCESS,
 )
 from wakatime.packages.requests.exceptions import RequestException
@@ -561,3 +562,52 @@ class MainTestCase(utils.TestCase):
             self.patched['wakatime.offlinequeue.Queue.push'].assert_not_called()
             self.patched['wakatime.offlinequeue.Queue.pop'].assert_not_called()
             self.patched['wakatime.session_cache.SessionCache.get'].assert_not_called()
+
+    def test_large_file_skips_lines_count(self):
+        response = Response()
+        response.status_code = 0
+        self.patched['wakatime.packages.requests.adapters.HTTPAdapter.send'].return_value = response
+
+        entity = 'tests/samples/codefiles/twolinefile.txt'
+        config = 'tests/samples/configs/good_config.cfg'
+        now = u(int(time.time()))
+
+        args = ['--entity', entity, '--config', config, '--time', now]
+
+        with utils.mock.patch('os.path.getsize') as mock_getsize:
+            mock_getsize.return_value = MAX_FILE_SIZE_SUPPORTED + 1
+
+            retval = execute(args)
+            self.assertEquals(retval, API_ERROR)
+
+            self.assertEquals(sys.stdout.getvalue(), '')
+            self.assertEquals(sys.stderr.getvalue(), '')
+
+        self.patched['wakatime.session_cache.SessionCache.get'].assert_called_once_with()
+        self.patched['wakatime.session_cache.SessionCache.delete'].assert_called_once_with()
+        self.patched['wakatime.session_cache.SessionCache.save'].assert_not_called()
+
+        heartbeat = {
+            'language': 'Text only',
+            'lines': None,
+            'entity': os.path.realpath(entity),
+            'project': os.path.basename(os.path.abspath('.')),
+            'cursorpos': None,
+            'lineno': None,
+            'branch': 'master',
+            'time': float(now),
+            'type': 'file',
+        }
+        stats = {
+            u('cursorpos'): None,
+            u('dependencies'): [],
+            u('language'): u('Text only'),
+            u('lineno'): None,
+            u('lines'): None,
+        }
+
+        self.patched['wakatime.offlinequeue.Queue.push'].assert_called_once_with(ANY, ANY, None)
+        for key, val in self.patched['wakatime.offlinequeue.Queue.push'].call_args[0][0].items():
+            self.assertEquals(heartbeat[key], val)
+        self.assertEquals(stats, json.loads(self.patched['wakatime.offlinequeue.Queue.push'].call_args[0][1]))
+        self.patched['wakatime.offlinequeue.Queue.pop'].assert_not_called()
diff --git a/wakatime/configs.py b/wakatime/configs.py
index 9ff9ec0..a4b2d18 100644
--- a/wakatime/configs.py
+++ b/wakatime/configs.py
@@ -25,6 +25,22 @@ except ImportError:
     from .packages import configparser
 
 
+def getConfigFile():
+    """Returns the config file location.
+
+    If $WAKATIME_HOME env varialbe is defined, returns
+    $WAKATIME_HOME/.wakatime.cfg, otherwise ~/.wakatime.cfg.
+    """
+
+    fileName = '.wakatime.cfg'
+
+    home = os.environ.get('WAKATIME_HOME')
+    if home:
+        return os.path.join(os.path.expanduser(home), fileName)
+
+    return os.path.join(os.path.expanduser('~'), fileName)
+
+
 def parseConfigFile(configFile=None):
     """Returns a configparser.SafeConfigParser instance with configs
     read from the config file. Default location of the config file is
@@ -32,13 +48,8 @@ def parseConfigFile(configFile=None):
     """
 
     # get config file location from ENV
-    home = os.environ.get('WAKATIME_HOME')
-    if not configFile and home:
-        configFile = os.path.join(os.path.expanduser(home), '.wakatime.cfg')
-
-    # use default config file location
     if not configFile:
-        configFile = os.path.join(os.path.expanduser('~'), '.wakatime.cfg')
+        configFile = getConfigFile()
 
     configs = configparser.ConfigParser(delimiters=('='), strict=False)
     try:
diff --git a/wakatime/constants.py b/wakatime/constants.py
index fece2b9..ae71737 100644
--- a/wakatime/constants.py
+++ b/wakatime/constants.py
@@ -38,3 +38,9 @@ UNKNOWN_ERROR = 105
 Exit code used when the JSON input from `--extra-heartbeats` is malformed.
 """
 MALFORMED_HEARTBEAT_ERROR = 106
+
+""" Max file size supporting line number count stats.
+Files larger than this in bytes will not have a line count stat for performance.
+Default is 2MB.
+"""
+MAX_FILE_SIZE_SUPPORTED = 2000000
diff --git a/wakatime/stats.py b/wakatime/stats.py
index f91ce01..e6fc3ff 100644
--- a/wakatime/stats.py
+++ b/wakatime/stats.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import re
 import sys
 
 from .compat import u, open
+from .constants import MAX_FILE_SIZE_SUPPORTED
 from .dependencies import DependencyParser
 from .language_priorities import LANGUAGES
 
@@ -184,6 +185,11 @@ def get_language_from_extension(file_name):
 
 
 def number_lines_in_file(file_name):
+    try:
+        if os.path.getsize(file_name) > MAX_FILE_SIZE_SUPPORTED:
+            return None
+    except os.error:
+        pass
     lines = 0
     try:
         with open(file_name, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as fh: