Abstract We present an implementation of the relativistic three-particle quantization condition including both s- and d-wave two-particle channels. For this, we develop a systematic expansion of the three-particle K matrix, $$ \mathcal{K} $$ K df,3, about threshold, which is the generalization of the effective range expansion of the two-particle K matrix, $$ \mathcal{K} $$ K 2. Relativistic invariance plays an important role in this expansion. We find that d-wave two-particle channels enter first at quadratic order. We explain how to implement the resulting multichannel quantization condition, and present several examples of its application. We derive the leading dependence of the threshold three-particle state on the two-particle d-wave scattering amplitude, and use this to test our implementation. We show how strong two-particle d-wave interactions can lead to significant effects on the finite-volume three-particle spectrum, including the possibility of a generalized three-particle Efimov-like bound state. We also explore the application to the 3π + system, which is accessible to lattice QCD simulations, where we study the sensitivity of the spectrum to the components of $$ \mathcal{K} $$ K df,3. Finally, we investigate the circumstances under which the quantization condition has unphysical solutions.