diff --git a/packages/config/src/load.js b/packages/config/src/load.js
index 72f832e2c2d7..94337a1af463 100644
--- a/packages/config/src/load.js
+++ b/packages/config/src/load.js
@@ -88,10 +88,13 @@ export async function loadNuxtConfig ({
   }
 
   // Load Combine configs
-  // Priority: configOverrides > nuxtConfig > .nuxtrc > .nuxtrc (global)
+  // Priority: configOverrides > nuxtConfig > .nuxt/dist/nuxtrc > .nuxtrc > .nuxtrc (global)
+  const dev = configOverrides.dev ?? options.dev ?? configContext.dev
+  const buildDir = configOverrides.buildDir ?? options.buildDir ?? configContext.buildDir ?? '.nuxt'
   options = defu(
     configOverrides,
     options,
+    !dev ? rc.read({ name: 'nuxtrc', dir: path.resolve(buildDir, 'dist') }) : {},
     rc.read({ name: '.nuxtrc', dir: options.rootDir }),
     rc.readUser('.nuxtrc')
   )