diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index c4c8b21..873101f 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -64,21 +64,23 @@ export default class Now extends EventEmitter {
     }
 
     // Read .npmrc
-    let npmrc;
-    try {
-      npmrc = await readFile(resolvePath(path, '.npmrc'), 'utf8');
-      npmrc = parseIni(npmrc);
-    } catch (err) {
-      // Do nothing
-    }
-
-    if (!npmrc) {
+    let npmrc = {};
+    if (pkg['forward-npm']) {
       try {
-        npmrc = await readFile(resolvePath(homedir(), '.npmrc'), 'utf8');
+        npmrc = await readFile(resolvePath(path, '.npmrc'), 'utf8');
         npmrc = parseIni(npmrc);
       } catch (err) {
         // Do nothing
       }
+
+      if (!npmrc) {
+        try {
+          npmrc = await readFile(resolvePath(homedir(), '.npmrc'), 'utf8');
+          npmrc = parseIni(npmrc);
+        } catch (err) {
+          // Do nothing
+        }
+      }
     }
 
     const authToken = npmrc['//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken'];