diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/init/cache.ts b/lib/workers/repository/init/cache.ts
index 367e01a0b96c96875a2de97ea2233a9805e54b26..ee11f0447eeeb0a9469e5600a6a8981f47a53253 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/init/cache.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/init/cache.ts
@@ -18,5 +18,6 @@ export async function initializeCaches(
   memCache.init();
   await initRepoCache(config);
   await fs.ensureDir(privateCacheDir());
+  npmApi.setNpmrc();
   npmApi.setNpmrc(config.npmrc);
 }