diff --git a/lib/manager/npm/package.js b/lib/manager/npm/package.js
index e6c40e62deb755c784ceeb524969c32671c7f5b4..57b7a4f8fe8b345305d87ce81ed45d73388483fe 100644
--- a/lib/manager/npm/package.js
+++ b/lib/manager/npm/package.js
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ async function getPackageUpdates(config) {
     logger.debug(results[0].message);
     return results;
   }
+  npmApi.setNpmrc(
+    config.npmrc,
+    config.global ? config.global.exposeEnv : false
+  );
   const npmDep = await npmApi.getDependency(config.depName);
   if (npmDep) {
     results = await versions.determineUpgrades(npmDep, config);