diff --git a/commands/version/README.md b/commands/version/README.md
index 5cdaa3bc3f0..1b4ee79c717 100644
--- a/commands/version/README.md
+++ b/commands/version/README.md
@@ -166,6 +166,25 @@ Presets are names of built-in or installable configuration for conventional chan
 Presets may be passed as the full name of the package, or the auto-expanded suffix
 (e.g., `angular` is expanded to `conventional-changelog-angular`).
 
+This option is can also be specified in `lerna.json` configuration:
+
+```json
+{
+  "changelogPreset": "angular"
+}
+```
+
+If the preset exports a builder function (e.g. `conventional-changelog-conventionalcommits`), you can specify the [preset configuration](https://github.com/conventional-changelog/conventional-changelog-config-spec) too:
+
+```json
+{
+  "changelogPreset": {
+    "name": "conventionalcommits",
+    "issueUrlFormat": "{{host}}/{{owner}}/{{repository}}/issues/{{id}}"
+  }
+}
+```
+
 ### `--exact`
 
 ```sh
diff --git a/core/conventional-commits/lib/get-changelog-config.js b/core/conventional-commits/lib/get-changelog-config.js
index 23212790eb8..16eea0c8073 100644
--- a/core/conventional-commits/lib/get-changelog-config.js
+++ b/core/conventional-commits/lib/get-changelog-config.js
@@ -13,27 +13,33 @@ function isFunction(config) {
   return Object.prototype.toString.call(config) === "[object Function]";
 }
 
-function resolveConfigPromise(presetPackageName) {
+function resolveConfigPromise(presetPackageName, presetConfig) {
   log.verbose("getChangelogConfig", "Attempting to resolve preset %j", presetPackageName);
 
   // eslint-disable-next-line global-require, import/no-dynamic-require
-  let config = require(presetPackageName);
+  const config = require(presetPackageName);
 
   log.info("getChangelogConfig", "Successfully resolved preset %j", presetPackageName);
 
-  // legacy presets export an errback function instead of Q.all()
   if (isFunction(config)) {
-    config = pify(config)();
+    // try assuming config builder function first
+    return pify(config)(presetConfig).catch(() => {
+      // legacy presets export an errback function instead of Q.all()
+      return pify(config)();
+    });
   }
 
   return config;
 }
 
 function getChangelogConfig(changelogPreset = "conventional-changelog-angular", rootPath) {
-  let config = cfgCache.get(changelogPreset);
+  const presetName = typeof changelogPreset === "string" ? changelogPreset : changelogPreset.name;
+  const presetConfig = typeof changelogPreset === "object" ? changelogPreset : null;
+
+  let config = cfgCache.get(presetName);
 
   if (!config) {
-    let presetPackageName = changelogPreset;
+    let presetPackageName = presetName;
 
     // https://github.com/npm/npm-package-arg#result-object
     const parsed = npa(presetPackageName, rootPath);
@@ -57,15 +63,15 @@ function getChangelogConfig(changelogPreset = "conventional-changelog-angular",
 
     // Maybe it doesn't need an implicit 'conventional-changelog-' prefix?
     try {
-      config = resolveConfigPromise(presetPackageName);
+      config = resolveConfigPromise(presetPackageName, presetConfig);
 
-      cfgCache.set(changelogPreset, config);
+      cfgCache.set(presetName, config);
 
       // early exit, yay
       return Promise.resolve(config);
     } catch (err) {
       log.verbose("getChangelogConfig", err.message);
-      log.info("getChangelogConfig", "Auto-prefixing conventional-changelog preset %j", changelogPreset);
+      log.info("getChangelogConfig", "Auto-prefixing conventional-changelog preset %j", presetName);
 
       // probably a deep shorthand subpath :P
       parsed.name = parsed.raw;
@@ -85,16 +91,16 @@ function getChangelogConfig(changelogPreset = "conventional-changelog-angular",
     }
 
     try {
-      config = resolveConfigPromise(presetPackageName);
+      config = resolveConfigPromise(presetPackageName, presetConfig);
 
-      cfgCache.set(changelogPreset, config);
+      cfgCache.set(presetName, config);
     } catch (err) {
       log.warn("getChangelogConfig", err.message);
 
       throw new ValidationError(
         "EPRESET",
-        `Unable to load conventional-changelog preset '${changelogPreset}'${
-          changelogPreset !== presetPackageName ? ` (${presetPackageName})` : ""
+        `Unable to load conventional-changelog preset '${presetName}'${
+          presetName !== presetPackageName ? ` (${presetPackageName})` : ""
         }`
       );
     }