diff --git a/packages/config/src/load.js b/packages/config/src/load.js
index b780b024d9..72f832e2c2 100644
--- a/packages/config/src/load.js
+++ b/packages/config/src/load.js
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@ import destr from 'destr'
 import * as rc from 'rc9'
 import { defaultNuxtConfigFile } from './config'
 
-const _require = createRequire(__filename)
-
 export async function loadNuxtConfig ({
   rootDir = '.',
   envConfig = {},
@@ -19,6 +17,8 @@ export async function loadNuxtConfig ({
 } = {}) {
   rootDir = path.resolve(rootDir)
 
+  const _require = createRequire(rootDir, true)
+
   let options = {}
 
   try {