diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index 06cf1dd..896aacc 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -67,26 +67,27 @@ export default class Now extends EventEmitter {
 
     // Read .npmrc
     let npmrc = {};
+    let authToken;
     if (nowProperties['forward-npm']) {
       try {
         npmrc = await readFile(resolvePath(path, '.npmrc'), 'utf8');
         npmrc = parseIni(npmrc);
+        authToken = npmrc['//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken'];
       } catch (err) {
         // Do nothing
       }
 
-      if (!npmrc) {
+      if (!authToken) {
         try {
           npmrc = await readFile(resolvePath(homedir(), '.npmrc'), 'utf8');
           npmrc = parseIni(npmrc);
+          authToken = npmrc['//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken'];
         } catch (err) {
           // Do nothing
         }
       }
     }
 
-    const authToken = npmrc['//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken'];
-
     if (this._debug) console.time('> [debug] Getting files');
     const files = await getFiles(path, pkg, { debug: this._debug });
     if (this._debug) console.timeEnd('> [debug] Getting files');