diff --git a/lib/common/options.js b/lib/common/options.js
index 82f1bb4f97..b80681e75b 100755
--- a/lib/common/options.js
+++ b/lib/common/options.js
@@ -49,19 +49,11 @@ Options.from = function (_options) {
   options.buildDir = resolve(options.rootDir, options.buildDir)
   options.cacheDir = resolve(options.rootDir, options.cacheDir)
 
-  // Normalize modulesDir
-  /* istanbul ignore if */
-  if (!options.modulesDir) {
-    options.modulesDir = ['node_modules']
-  }
-  if (!Array.isArray(options.modulesDir)) {
-    options.modulesDir = [options.modulesDir]
-  }
-  options.modulesDir = options.modulesDir.filter(dir => hasValue(dir)).map(dir => resolve(options.rootDir, dir))
-
-  // Always add nuxt to modulesDir array
-  const nuxtModulesDir = join(options.nuxtDir, 'node_modules')
-  options.modulesDir.push(nuxtModulesDir)
+  // Populate modulesDir
+  options.modulesDir = []
+    .concat(options.modulesDir, join(options.nuxtDir, 'node_modules'))
+    .filter(dir => hasValue(dir))
+    .map(dir => resolve(options.rootDir, dir))
 
   // If app.html is defined, set the template path to the user template
   options.appTemplatePath = resolve(options.buildDir, 'views/app.template.html')
@@ -209,6 +201,7 @@ Options.defaults = {
   cacheDir: '.cache',
   nuxtDir: resolve(__dirname, '../..'),
   nuxtAppDir: resolve(__dirname, '../app'),
+  modulesDir: ['node_modules'], // ~> relative to options.rootDir
   build: {
     analyze: false,
     profile: process.argv.includes('--profile'),
diff --git a/lib/core/nuxt.js b/lib/core/nuxt.js
index f25d213c20..8a4dccc511 100644
--- a/lib/core/nuxt.js
+++ b/lib/core/nuxt.js
@@ -17,18 +17,9 @@ module.exports = class Nuxt {
   constructor(options = {}) {
     this.options = Options.from(options)
 
-    // Paths for resolving requires from `rootDir`
-    this.nodeModulePaths = Module._nodeModulePaths(this.options.rootDir)
-
-    if (this.options.nuxtDir.indexOf(this.options.rootDir) !== 0) {
-      this.nodeModulePaths = [
-        ...this.nodeModulePaths,
-        ...Module._nodeModulePaths(this.options.nuxtDir)
-      ]
-    }
-
     this.initialized = false
     this.errorHandler = this.errorHandler.bind(this)
+
     // Hooks
     this._hooks = {}
     this.hook = this.hook.bind(this)
@@ -178,7 +169,7 @@ module.exports = class Nuxt {
   resolvePath(path) {
     // Try to resolve using NPM resolve path first
     try {
-      let resolvedPath = Module._resolveFilename(path, { paths: this.nodeModulePaths })
+      let resolvedPath = Module._resolveFilename(path, { paths: this.options.modulesDir })
       return resolvedPath
     } catch (e) {
       // Just continue