diff --git a/lib/cloudinary-proxy.js b/lib/cloudinary-proxy.js
index 2b2ecab..0ea9c15 100644
--- a/lib/cloudinary-proxy.js
+++ b/lib/cloudinary-proxy.js
@@ -7,9 +7,10 @@
  */
 const _has = require("lodash/has");
 const cloudinary = require("cloudinary-core");
+const requireConfig = require("./helpers/requireConfig");
 
 // https://cloudinary.com/documentation/solution_overview#configuration_parameters
-const runConfig = require(`${process.env.INIT_CWD}/cloudinaryrc.json`);
+const runConfig = requireConfig();
 
 if (!_has(runConfig, "native.cloud_name")) {
   throw new Error("You need to provide a **native** object with the mandatory **cloud_name** field");
diff --git a/lib/helpers/requireConfig.js b/lib/helpers/requireConfig.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..128041d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/helpers/requireConfig.js
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+/**
+ * Load the cloudinaryrc configuration from the top level path
+ * @throws Will throw if the file is not or the error faced during the `require` call
+ * @returns {NodeRequire} JSON configuration module
+ */
+function requireConfig() {
+  const configFileLocation = `${process.env.INIT_CWD || process.cwd()}/cloudinaryrc.json`;
+
+  try {
+    return require(configFileLocation);
+  } catch (e) {
+    if (e.code !== "MODULE_NOT_FOUND") {
+      throw e;
+    }
+    throw Error(`Cloudinary config could not be found at ${configFileLocation}`);
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = requireConfig;
diff --git a/test/requireConfig.spec.js b/test/requireConfig.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5bb9df4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/requireConfig.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+const requireConfig = require("../lib/helpers/requireConfig");
+
+describe("requireConfig", () => {
+  it("throws when config not found at expected location", () => {
+    expect(requireConfig).toThrow(`Cloudinary config could not be found at ${process.env.INIT_CWD || process.cwd()}`);
+  });
+
+  it("loads the required file", () => {
+    const mockConfig = JSON.stringify({ test: 1 });
+
+    jest.mock(
+      `${process.cwd()}/cloudinaryrc.json`,
+      () => {
+        return mockConfig;
+      },
+      { virtual: true }
+    );
+
+    const loadedConfig = requireConfig();
+
+    expect(loadedConfig).toBe(mockConfig);
+  });
+
+  afterAll(() => jest.resetAllMocks());
+});