diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index 873101f..06cf1dd 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -63,9 +63,11 @@ export default class Now extends EventEmitter {
       throw e;
     }
 
+    const nowProperties = pkg.now || {};
+
     // Read .npmrc
     let npmrc = {};
-    if (pkg['forward-npm']) {
+    if (nowProperties['forward-npm']) {
       try {
         npmrc = await readFile(resolvePath(path, '.npmrc'), 'utf8');
         npmrc = parseIni(npmrc);
@@ -95,7 +97,6 @@ export default class Now extends EventEmitter {
 
     this._files = hashes;
 
-    const nowProperties = pkg.now || {};
     const engines = nowProperties.engines || pkg.engines;
 
     const deployment = await this.retry(async (bail) => {