diff --git a/nbdev/config.py b/nbdev/config.py
index 50fddab6e..72b735873 100644
--- a/nbdev/config.py
+++ b/nbdev/config.py
@@ -181,10 +181,8 @@ def nbdev_create_config(
 
 # %% ../nbs/api/01_config.ipynb
 def _nbdev_config_file(cfg_name=_nbdev_cfg_name, path=None):
-    cfg_path = path = Path.cwd() if path is None else Path(path)
-    while cfg_path != cfg_path.parent and not (cfg_path/cfg_name).exists(): cfg_path = cfg_path.parent
-    if not (cfg_path/cfg_name).exists(): cfg_path = path
-    return cfg_path/cfg_name
+    cfg_path = Path.cwd() if path is None else Path(path)
+    return getattr(Config.find(cfg_name), 'config_file', cfg_path/cfg_name)
 
 # %% ../nbs/api/01_config.ipynb
 def _xdg_config_paths(cfg_name=_nbdev_cfg_name):
diff --git a/nbs/api/01_config.ipynb b/nbs/api/01_config.ipynb
index 397c5c029..465e266bd 100644
--- a/nbs/api/01_config.ipynb
+++ b/nbs/api/01_config.ipynb
@@ -402,10 +402,8 @@
    "source": [
     "#|export\n",
     "def _nbdev_config_file(cfg_name=_nbdev_cfg_name, path=None):\n",
-    "    cfg_path = path = Path.cwd() if path is None else Path(path)\n",
-    "    while cfg_path != cfg_path.parent and not (cfg_path/cfg_name).exists(): cfg_path = cfg_path.parent\n",
-    "    if not (cfg_path/cfg_name).exists(): cfg_path = path\n",
-    "    return cfg_path/cfg_name"
+    "    cfg_path = Path.cwd() if path is None else Path(path)\n",
+    "    return getattr(Config.find(cfg_name), 'config_file', cfg_path/cfg_name)"
    ]
   },
   {