diff --git a/distributions/nuxt-start/bin/nuxt-start.js b/distributions/nuxt-start/bin/nuxt-start.js
index 6496c3d2b2..ad9b96e59e 100755
--- a/distributions/nuxt-start/bin/nuxt-start.js
+++ b/distributions/nuxt-start/bin/nuxt-start.js
@@ -2,4 +2,7 @@
 const { name } = require('../package.json')
 const isEdge = name.indexOf('-edge') !== -1
 const cli = require(isEdge ? '@nuxt/cli-edge' : '@nuxt/cli')
+if (process.argv[2] !== 'start') {
+  process.argv.splice(2, 0, 'start')
+}
 cli.run()