diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/init/config.js b/lib/workers/repository/init/config.js
index 5e1c1c03627353eebd791da9f461495aed59477e..51ea51b13676b822b9412c7b57618c839ffe34b4 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/init/config.js
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/init/config.js
@@ -139,6 +139,10 @@ async function mergeRenovateConfig(config) {
     logger.debug(
       'Ignoring any .npmrc files in repository due to configured npmrc'
     );
+    npmApi.setNpmrc(
+      resolvedConfig.npmrc,
+      config.global ? config.global.exposeEnv : false
+    );
     resolvedConfig.ignoreNpmrcFile = true;
   }
   returnConfig = mergeChildConfig(returnConfig, resolvedConfig);