diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/index.js b/packages/cli/src/utils/index.js
index 7b4a7ad930..afad65561d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/index.js
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/index.js
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ export function showBanner(nuxt) {
   // Running mode
   titleLines.push(`Running in ${nuxt.options.dev ? chalk.bold.blue('development') : chalk.bold.green('production')} mode (${chalk.bold(nuxt.options.mode)})`)
 
-  if (nuxt.options._typescript) {
+  if (nuxt.options._typescript && nuxt.options._typescript.runtime) {
     titleLines.push(`TypeScript support is ${chalk.green.bold('enabled')}`)
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/typescript.js b/packages/cli/src/utils/typescript.js
index da91bacd15..3e4429179b 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/typescript.js
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/typescript.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import path from 'path'
 import fs from 'fs-extra'
 import * as imports from '../imports'
 
-async function registerTSNode(tsConfigPath, options) {
+async function registerTSNode({ tsConfigPath, options }) {
   const { register } = await imports.tsNode()
 
   // https://github.com/TypeStrong/ts-node
@@ -26,24 +26,34 @@ async function getNuxtTypeScript() {
 }
 
 export async function detectTypeScript(rootDir, options = {}) {
-  // Check if tsconfig.json exists in project rootDir
-  const tsConfigPath = path.resolve(rootDir, 'tsconfig.json')
+  const typescript = {
+    tsConfigPath: path.resolve(rootDir, 'tsconfig.json'),
+    tsConfigExists: false,
+    runtime: false,
+    build: false,
+    options
+  }
+
+  // Check if tsconfig.json exists
+  typescript.tsConfigExists = await fs.exists(typescript.tsConfigPath)
 
   // Skip if tsconfig.json not exists
-  if (!await fs.exists(tsConfigPath)) {
-    return false
+  if (!typescript.tsConfigExists) {
+    return typescript
   }
 
   // Register runtime support
-  await registerTSNode(tsConfigPath, options)
+  typescript.runtime = true
+  await registerTSNode(typescript)
 
   // Try to load @nuxt/typescript
   const nuxtTypeScript = await getNuxtTypeScript()
 
   // If exists do additional setup
   if (nuxtTypeScript) {
-    await nuxtTypeScript.setupDefaults(tsConfigPath)
+    typescript.build = true
+    await nuxtTypeScript.setupDefaults(typescript.tsConfigPath)
   }
 
-  return true
+  return typescript
 }
diff --git a/packages/webpack/src/config/client.js b/packages/webpack/src/config/client.js
index 6642105240..77383b2cbb 100644
--- a/packages/webpack/src/config/client.js
+++ b/packages/webpack/src/config/client.js
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ export default class WebpackClientConfig extends WebpackBaseConfig {
 
   plugins() {
     const plugins = super.plugins()
-    const { buildOptions, options: { appTemplatePath, buildDir, modern, rootDir, _typescript } } = this.buildContext
+    const { buildOptions, options: { appTemplatePath, buildDir, modern, rootDir, _typescript = {} } } = this.buildContext
 
     // Generate output HTML for SSR
     if (buildOptions.ssr) {
@@ -139,8 +139,7 @@ export default class WebpackClientConfig extends WebpackBaseConfig {
 
     // TypeScript type checker
     // Only performs once per client compilation and only if `ts-loader` checker is not used (transpileOnly: true)
-    if (_typescript && buildOptions.typescript && buildOptions.typescript.typeCheck && !this.isModern && this.loaders.ts.transpileOnly) {
-      // We assume that "_typescript" being truthy means @nuxt/typescript is installed <=> fork-ts-checker-webpack-plugin is installed
+    if (_typescript.build && buildOptions.typescript && buildOptions.typescript.typeCheck && !this.isModern && this.loaders.ts.transpileOnly) {
       const ForkTsCheckerWebpackPlugin = require(this.buildContext.nuxt.resolver.resolveModule('fork-ts-checker-webpack-plugin'))
       plugins.push(new ForkTsCheckerWebpackPlugin(Object.assign({
         vue: true,
diff --git a/test/unit/typescript.modern.test.js b/test/unit/typescript.modern.test.js
index 4f934f653e..a14bafe199 100644
--- a/test/unit/typescript.modern.test.js
+++ b/test/unit/typescript.modern.test.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ describe('typescript modern', () => {
 
   beforeAll(async () => {
     const options = await loadFixture('typescript')
-    nuxt = new Nuxt(Object.assign(options, { modern: true, _typescript: true }))
+    nuxt = new Nuxt(Object.assign(options, { modern: true, _typescript: { build: true } }))
     await new Builder(nuxt, BundleBuilder).build()
   })