diff --git a/packages/cli/src/options/common.js b/packages/cli/src/options/common.js
index c4eb88b565..3b4014f5de 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/options/common.js
+++ b/packages/cli/src/options/common.js
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
+import { defaultNuxtConfigFile } from '@nuxt/config'
 import { normalizeArg } from '../utils'
 
-const defaultConfigFile = `nuxt.config${process.env.NUXT_TS === 'true' ? '.ts' : '.js'}`
-
 export default {
   spa: {
     alias: 's',
@@ -16,8 +15,8 @@ export default {
   'config-file': {
     alias: 'c',
     type: 'string',
-    default: defaultConfigFile,
-    description: `Path to Nuxt.js config file (default: \`${defaultConfigFile}\`)`
+    default: defaultNuxtConfigFile,
+    description: `Path to Nuxt.js config file (default: \`${defaultNuxtConfigFile}\`)`
   },
   modern: {
     alias: 'm',
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/index.js b/packages/cli/src/utils/index.js
index 5a0650044d..55dd734e92 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/index.js
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/index.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { existsSync } from 'fs'
 import consola from 'consola'
 import esm from 'esm'
 import defaultsDeep from 'lodash/defaultsDeep'
-import { getDefaultNuxtConfig } from '@nuxt/config'
+import { defaultNuxtConfigFile, getDefaultNuxtConfig } from '@nuxt/config'
 import boxen from 'boxen'
 import chalk from 'chalk'
 import prettyBytes from 'pretty-bytes'
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export async function loadNuxtConfig(argv) {
 
     // Keep _nuxtConfigFile for watching
     options._nuxtConfigFile = nuxtConfigFile
-  } else if (argv['config-file'] !== 'nuxt.config.js') {
+  } else if (argv['config-file'] !== defaultNuxtConfigFile) {
     consola.fatal('Could not load config file: ' + argv['config-file'])
   }
   if (typeof options.rootDir !== 'string') {
diff --git a/packages/config/src/config/index.js b/packages/config/src/config/index.js
index 2b57b5ff62..0e6fe2fc75 100644
--- a/packages/config/src/config/index.js
+++ b/packages/config/src/config/index.js
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ import router from './router'
 import server from './server'
 import cli from './cli'
 
+export const defaultNuxtConfigFile = `nuxt.config${process.env.NUXT_TS === 'true' ? '.ts' : '.js'}`
+
 export function getDefaultNuxtConfig(options = {}) {
   if (!options.env) {
     options.env = process.env
diff --git a/packages/config/src/index.js b/packages/config/src/index.js
index 41a04bd804..b0f66745b1 100644
--- a/packages/config/src/index.js
+++ b/packages/config/src/index.js
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-export { getDefaultNuxtConfig } from './config'
+export { defaultNuxtConfigFile, getDefaultNuxtConfig } from './config'
 export { getNuxtConfig } from './options'
diff --git a/packages/config/src/options.js b/packages/config/src/options.js
index 1a396c2cb3..90973da87f 100644
--- a/packages/config/src/options.js
+++ b/packages/config/src/options.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import isObject from 'lodash/isObject'
 import uniq from 'lodash/uniq'
 import consola from 'consola'
 import { guardDir, isNonEmptyString, isPureObject, isUrl, getMainModule } from '@nuxt/utils'
-import { getDefaultNuxtConfig } from './config'
+import { defaultNuxtConfigFile, getDefaultNuxtConfig } from './config'
 
 export function getNuxtConfig(_options) {
   // Prevent duplicate calls
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ export function getNuxtConfig(_options) {
 
   // Default value for _nuxtConfigFile
   if (!options._nuxtConfigFile) {
-    options._nuxtConfigFile = path.resolve(options.rootDir, 'nuxt.config.js')
+    options._nuxtConfigFile = path.resolve(options.rootDir, defaultNuxtConfigFile)
   }
 
   // Watch for _nuxtConfigFile changes