diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index a8f9e02..7556a7e 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -31,20 +31,21 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	sessionNameFlag    string
-	runIdFlag          int
-	sessionPrefixFlag  string
-	outputDirFlag      string
-	downloadDBsFlag    bool
-	nwoFlag            string
-	jsonFlag           bool
-	languageFlag       string
-	listFileFlag       string
-	listFlag           string
-	codeqlPathFlag     string
-	controllerFlag     string
-	queryFileFlag      string
-	querySuiteFileFlag string
+	sessionNameFlag     string
+	runIdFlag           int
+	sessionPrefixFlag   string
+	outputDirFlag       string
+	downloadDBsFlag     bool
+	nwoFlag             string
+	jsonFlag            bool
+	languageFlag        string
+	listFileFlag        string
+	listFlag            string
+	codeqlPathFlag      string
+	controllerFlag      string
+	queryFileFlag       string
+	querySuiteFileFlag  string
+	additionalPacksFlag string
 )
 var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "gh-mrva",
diff --git a/cmd/submit.go b/cmd/submit.go
index f76e50d..66c6888 100644
--- a/cmd/submit.go
+++ b/cmd/submit.go
@@ -15,14 +15,15 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	controller     string
-	codeqlPath     string
-	listFile       string
-	listName       string
-	language       string
-	sessionName    string
-	queryFile      string
-	querySuiteFile string
+	additionalPacks string
+	controller      string
+	codeqlPath      string
+	listFile        string
+	listName        string
+	language        string
+	sessionName     string
+	queryFile       string
+	querySuiteFile  string
 )
 var submitCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "submit",
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ func init() {
 	submitCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&listFileFlag, "list-file", "f", "", "Path to repo list file (overrides config file)")
 	submitCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&listFlag, "list", "i", "", "Name of repo list")
 	submitCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&codeqlPathFlag, "codeql-path", "p", "", "Path to CodeQL distribution (overrides config file)")
+	submitCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&additionalPacksFlag, "additional-packs", "a", "", "Additional Packs")
 	submitCmd.MarkFlagRequired("session")
 	submitCmd.MarkFlagRequired("language")
 	submitCmd.MarkFlagsMutuallyExclusive("query", "query-suite")
@@ -69,6 +71,9 @@ func submitQuery() {
 	} else if configData.CodeQLPath != "" {
 		codeqlPath = configData.CodeQLPath
 	}
+	if additionalPacksFlag != "" {
+		additionalPacks = additionalPacksFlag
+	}
 	if languageFlag != "" {
 		language = languageFlag
 	}
@@ -85,6 +90,14 @@ func submitQuery() {
 		querySuiteFile = querySuiteFileFlag
 	}
 
+	if codeqlPath != "" {
+		if additionalPacks != "" {
+			additionalPacks = ":" + codeqlPath
+		} else {
+			additionalPacks = codeqlPath
+		}
+	}
+
 	if controller == "" {
 		fmt.Println("Please specify a controller.")
 		os.Exit(1)
@@ -118,13 +131,13 @@ func submitQuery() {
 	if queryFileFlag != "" {
 		queries = append(queries, queryFileFlag)
 	} else if querySuiteFileFlag != "" {
-		queries = utils.ResolveQueries(codeqlPath, querySuiteFile)
+		queries = utils.ResolveQueries(additionalPacks, querySuiteFile)
 	}
 
 	fmt.Printf("Submitting %d queries for %d repositories\n", len(queries), len(repositories))
 	var runs []models.Run
 	for _, query := range queries {
-		encodedBundle, queryId, err := utils.GenerateQueryPack(codeqlPath, query, language)
+		encodedBundle, queryId, err := utils.GenerateQueryPack(query, language, additionalPacks)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Fatal(err)
 		}
diff --git a/utils/utils.go b/utils/utils.go
index 5770ec5..a1178c2 100644
--- a/utils/utils.go
+++ b/utils/utils.go
@@ -259,9 +259,9 @@ func ResolveQueryId(queryFile string) (string, error) {
 	}
 }
 
-func ResolveQueries(codeqlPath string, querySuite string) []string {
+func ResolveQueries(additionalPacks string, querySuite string) []string {
 	args := []string{"resolve", "queries", "--format=json", querySuite}
-	jsonBytes, err := RunCodeQLCommand(codeqlPath, false, args...)
+	jsonBytes, err := RunCodeQLCommand(additionalPacks, false, args...)
 	var queries []string
 	if strings.TrimSpace(string(jsonBytes)) == "" {
 		fmt.Println("No queries found in the specified query suite.")
@@ -275,9 +275,12 @@ func ResolveQueries(codeqlPath string, querySuite string) []string {
 	return queries
 }
 
-func RunCodeQLCommand(codeqlPath string, combined bool, args ...string) ([]byte, error) {
-	if codeqlPath != "" && !strings.Contains(strings.Join(args, " "), "packlist") {
-		args = append(args, fmt.Sprintf("--additional-packs=%s", codeqlPath))
+func RunCodeQLCommand(additionalPacks string, combined bool, args ...string) ([]byte, error) {
+	if additionalPacks != "" {
+		args = append(args, "--additional-packs", additionalPacks)
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(strings.Join(args, " "), "pack install") {
+		args = append(args, "--no-strict-mode")
 	}
 	cmd := exec.Command("codeql", args...)
 	cmd.Env = os.Environ()
@@ -288,7 +291,7 @@ func RunCodeQLCommand(codeqlPath string, combined bool, args ...string) ([]byte,
 	}
 }
 
-func GenerateQueryPack(codeqlPath string, queryFile string, language string) (string, string, error) {
+func GenerateQueryPack(queryFile string, language string, additionalPacks string) (string, string, error) {
 	fmt.Printf("Generating query pack for %s\n", queryFile)
 
 	// create a temporary directory to hold the query pack
@@ -355,7 +358,7 @@ defaultSuite:
 	} else {
 		// don't include all query files in the QLPacks. We only want the queryFile to be copied.
 		fmt.Printf("QLPack exists, stripping all other queries from %s\n", originalPackRoot)
-		toCopy := PackPacklist(codeqlPath, originalPackRoot, false)
+		toCopy := PackPacklist(originalPackRoot, false)
 		// also copy the lock file (either new name or old name) and the query file itself (these are not included in the packlist)
 		lockFileNew := filepath.Join(originalPackRoot, "qlpack.lock.yml")
 		lockFileOld := filepath.Join(originalPackRoot, "codeql-pack.lock.yml")
@@ -389,7 +392,7 @@ defaultSuite:
 	// install the pack dependencies
 	fmt.Print("Installing QLPack dependencies\n")
 	args := []string{"pack", "install", queryPackDir}
-	stdouterr, err := RunCodeQLCommand(codeqlPath, true, args...)
+	stdouterr, err := RunCodeQLCommand(additionalPacks, true, args...)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Printf("`codeql pack bundle` failed with error: %v\n", string(stdouterr))
 		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("Failed to install query pack: %v", err)
@@ -398,7 +401,7 @@ defaultSuite:
 	fmt.Print("Compiling and bundling the QLPack (This may take a while)\n")
 	args = []string{"pack", "bundle", "-o", bundlePath, queryPackDir}
 	args = append(args, precompilationOpts...)
-	stdouterr, err = RunCodeQLCommand(codeqlPath, true, args...)
+	stdouterr, err = RunCodeQLCommand(additionalPacks, true, args...)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Printf("`codeql pack bundle` failed with error: %v\n", string(stdouterr))
 		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("Failed to bundle query pack: %v\n", err)
@@ -419,14 +422,14 @@ defaultSuite:
 	return bundleBase64, queryId, nil
 }
 
-func PackPacklist(codeqlPath string, dir string, includeQueries bool) []string {
+func PackPacklist(dir string, includeQueries bool) []string {
 	// since 2.7.1, packlist returns an object with a "paths" property that is a list of packs.
 	args := []string{"pack", "packlist", "--format=json"}
 	if !includeQueries {
 		args = append(args, "--no-include-queries")
 	}
 	args = append(args, dir)
-	jsonBytes, err := RunCodeQLCommand(codeqlPath, false, args...)
+	jsonBytes, err := RunCodeQLCommand("", false, args...)
 	var packlist map[string][]string
 	err = json.Unmarshal(jsonBytes, &packlist)
 	if err != nil {