diff --git a/packages/nx/src/plugins/package-json/create-nodes.ts b/packages/nx/src/plugins/package-json/create-nodes.ts
index e983c8f7eaa3d..0670dffcd7b13 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/plugins/package-json/create-nodes.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/plugins/package-json/create-nodes.ts
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ export function buildProjectConfigurationFromPackageJson(
     sourceRoot: projectRoot,
     name,
     ...packageJson.nx,
-    targets: readTargetsFromPackageJson(packageJson),
+    targets: readTargetsFromPackageJson(packageJson, nxJson),
     tags: getTagsFromPackageJson(packageJson),
     metadata: getMetadataFromPackageJson(packageJson),
   };
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.spec.ts b/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.spec.ts
index f5b00a0b7f1d5..1e2967fe95062 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.spec.ts
@@ -40,8 +40,50 @@ describe('readTargetsFromPackageJson', () => {
     },
   };
 
+  it('should take targetDefaults for nx-release-publish into account when building the implicit target', () => {
+    const nxJson1 = {
+      targetDefaults: {
+        'nx-release-publish': {
+          dependsOn: ['build', 'lint'],
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const result1 = readTargetsFromPackageJson(packageJson, nxJson1);
+    expect(result1['nx-release-publish']).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+      {
+        "dependsOn": [
+          "^nx-release-publish",
+          "build",
+          "lint",
+        ],
+        "executor": "@nx/js:release-publish",
+        "options": {},
+      }
+    `);
+
+    const nxJson2 = {
+      targetDefaults: {
+        'nx-release-publish': {
+          dependsOn: ['^something'],
+          executor: 'totally-different-executor',
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const result2 = readTargetsFromPackageJson(packageJson, nxJson2);
+    expect(result2['nx-release-publish']).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+      {
+        "dependsOn": [
+          "^nx-release-publish",
+          "^something",
+        ],
+        "executor": "totally-different-executor",
+        "options": {},
+      }
+    `);
+  });
+
   it('should read targets from project.json and package.json', () => {
-    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson(packageJson);
+    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson(packageJson, {});
     expect(result).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       {
         "build": {
@@ -66,20 +108,23 @@ describe('readTargetsFromPackageJson', () => {
   });
 
   it('should contain extended options from nx property in package.json', () => {
-    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson({
-      name: 'my-other-app',
-      version: '',
-      scripts: {
-        build: 'echo 1',
-      },
-      nx: {
-        targets: {
-          build: {
-            outputs: ['custom'],
+    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson(
+      {
+        name: 'my-other-app',
+        version: '',
+        scripts: {
+          build: 'echo 1',
+        },
+        nx: {
+          targets: {
+            build: {
+              outputs: ['custom'],
+            },
           },
         },
       },
-    });
+      {}
+    );
     expect(result).toEqual({
       build: { ...packageJsonBuildTarget, outputs: ['custom'] },
       'nx-release-publish': {
@@ -91,17 +136,20 @@ describe('readTargetsFromPackageJson', () => {
   });
 
   it('should ignore scripts that are not in includedScripts', () => {
-    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson({
-      name: 'included-scripts-test',
-      version: '',
-      scripts: {
-        test: 'echo testing',
-        fail: 'exit 1',
-      },
-      nx: {
-        includedScripts: ['test'],
+    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson(
+      {
+        name: 'included-scripts-test',
+        version: '',
+        scripts: {
+          test: 'echo testing',
+          fail: 'exit 1',
+        },
+        nx: {
+          includedScripts: ['test'],
+        },
       },
-    });
+      {}
+    );
 
     expect(result).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       {
@@ -127,20 +175,23 @@ describe('readTargetsFromPackageJson', () => {
   });
 
   it('should extend script based targets if matching config', () => {
-    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson({
-      name: 'my-other-app',
-      version: '',
-      scripts: {
-        build: 'echo 1',
-      },
-      nx: {
-        targets: {
-          build: {
-            outputs: ['custom'],
+    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson(
+      {
+        name: 'my-other-app',
+        version: '',
+        scripts: {
+          build: 'echo 1',
+        },
+        nx: {
+          targets: {
+            build: {
+              outputs: ['custom'],
+            },
           },
         },
       },
-    });
+      {}
+    );
     expect(result.build).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       {
         "executor": "nx:run-script",
@@ -159,23 +210,26 @@ describe('readTargetsFromPackageJson', () => {
   });
 
   it('should override scripts if provided an executor', () => {
-    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson({
-      name: 'my-other-app',
-      version: '',
-      scripts: {
-        build: 'echo 1',
-      },
-      nx: {
-        targets: {
-          build: {
-            executor: 'nx:run-commands',
-            options: {
-              commands: ['echo 2'],
+    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson(
+      {
+        name: 'my-other-app',
+        version: '',
+        scripts: {
+          build: 'echo 1',
+        },
+        nx: {
+          targets: {
+            build: {
+              executor: 'nx:run-commands',
+              options: {
+                commands: ['echo 2'],
+              },
             },
           },
         },
       },
-    });
+      {}
+    );
     expect(result.build).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       {
         "executor": "nx:run-commands",
@@ -189,23 +243,26 @@ describe('readTargetsFromPackageJson', () => {
   });
 
   it('should override script if provided in options', () => {
-    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson({
-      name: 'my-other-app',
-      version: '',
-      scripts: {
-        build: 'echo 1',
-      },
-      nx: {
-        targets: {
-          build: {
-            executor: 'nx:run-script',
-            options: {
-              script: 'echo 2',
+    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson(
+      {
+        name: 'my-other-app',
+        version: '',
+        scripts: {
+          build: 'echo 1',
+        },
+        nx: {
+          targets: {
+            build: {
+              executor: 'nx:run-script',
+              options: {
+                script: 'echo 2',
+              },
             },
           },
         },
       },
-    });
+      {}
+    );
     expect(result.build).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       {
         "executor": "nx:run-script",
@@ -217,20 +274,23 @@ describe('readTargetsFromPackageJson', () => {
   });
 
   it('should support targets without scripts', () => {
-    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson({
-      name: 'my-other-app',
-      version: '',
-      nx: {
-        targets: {
-          build: {
-            executor: 'nx:run-commands',
-            options: {
-              commands: ['echo 2'],
+    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson(
+      {
+        name: 'my-other-app',
+        version: '',
+        nx: {
+          targets: {
+            build: {
+              executor: 'nx:run-commands',
+              options: {
+                commands: ['echo 2'],
+              },
             },
           },
         },
       },
-    });
+      {}
+    );
     expect(result.build).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       {
         "executor": "nx:run-commands",
@@ -244,57 +304,60 @@ describe('readTargetsFromPackageJson', () => {
   });
 
   it('should support partial target info without including script', () => {
-    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson({
-      name: 'my-remix-app-8cce',
-      version: '',
-      scripts: {
-        build: 'run-s build:*',
-        'build:icons': 'tsx ./other/build-icons.ts',
-        'build:remix': 'remix build --sourcemap',
-        'build:server': 'tsx ./other/build-server.ts',
-        predev: 'npm run build:icons --silent',
-        dev: 'remix dev -c "node ./server/dev-server.js" --manual',
-        'prisma:studio': 'prisma studio',
-        format: 'prettier --write .',
-        lint: 'eslint .',
-        setup:
-          'npm run build && prisma generate && prisma migrate deploy && prisma db seed && playwright install',
-        start: 'cross-env NODE_ENV=production node .',
-        'start:mocks': 'cross-env NODE_ENV=production MOCKS=true tsx .',
-        test: 'vitest',
-        coverage: 'nx test --coverage',
-        'test:e2e': 'npm run test:e2e:dev --silent',
-        'test:e2e:dev': 'playwright test --ui',
-        'pretest:e2e:run': 'npm run build',
-        'test:e2e:run': 'cross-env CI=true playwright test',
-        'test:e2e:install': 'npx playwright install --with-deps chromium',
-        typecheck: 'tsc',
-        validate: 'run-p "test -- --run" lint typecheck test:e2e:run',
-      },
-      nx: {
-        targets: {
-          'build:icons': {
-            outputs: ['{projectRoot}/app/components/ui/icons'],
-          },
-          'build:remix': {
-            outputs: ['{projectRoot}/build'],
-          },
-          'build:server': {
-            outputs: ['{projectRoot}/server-build'],
-          },
-          test: {
-            outputs: ['{projectRoot}/test-results'],
-          },
-          'test:e2e': {
-            outputs: ['{projectRoot}/playwright-report'],
-          },
-          'test:e2e:run': {
-            outputs: ['{projectRoot}/playwright-report'],
+    const result = readTargetsFromPackageJson(
+      {
+        name: 'my-remix-app-8cce',
+        version: '',
+        scripts: {
+          build: 'run-s build:*',
+          'build:icons': 'tsx ./other/build-icons.ts',
+          'build:remix': 'remix build --sourcemap',
+          'build:server': 'tsx ./other/build-server.ts',
+          predev: 'npm run build:icons --silent',
+          dev: 'remix dev -c "node ./server/dev-server.js" --manual',
+          'prisma:studio': 'prisma studio',
+          format: 'prettier --write .',
+          lint: 'eslint .',
+          setup:
+            'npm run build && prisma generate && prisma migrate deploy && prisma db seed && playwright install',
+          start: 'cross-env NODE_ENV=production node .',
+          'start:mocks': 'cross-env NODE_ENV=production MOCKS=true tsx .',
+          test: 'vitest',
+          coverage: 'nx test --coverage',
+          'test:e2e': 'npm run test:e2e:dev --silent',
+          'test:e2e:dev': 'playwright test --ui',
+          'pretest:e2e:run': 'npm run build',
+          'test:e2e:run': 'cross-env CI=true playwright test',
+          'test:e2e:install': 'npx playwright install --with-deps chromium',
+          typecheck: 'tsc',
+          validate: 'run-p "test -- --run" lint typecheck test:e2e:run',
+        },
+        nx: {
+          targets: {
+            'build:icons': {
+              outputs: ['{projectRoot}/app/components/ui/icons'],
+            },
+            'build:remix': {
+              outputs: ['{projectRoot}/build'],
+            },
+            'build:server': {
+              outputs: ['{projectRoot}/server-build'],
+            },
+            test: {
+              outputs: ['{projectRoot}/test-results'],
+            },
+            'test:e2e': {
+              outputs: ['{projectRoot}/playwright-report'],
+            },
+            'test:e2e:run': {
+              outputs: ['{projectRoot}/playwright-report'],
+            },
           },
+          includedScripts: [],
         },
-        includedScripts: [],
       },
-    });
+      {}
+    );
     expect(result.test).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       {
         "outputs": [
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.ts b/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.ts
index fd657fc54b172..c586cd812a2aa 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { existsSync } from 'fs';
 import { dirname, join } from 'path';
+import { NxJsonConfiguration } from '../config/nx-json';
 import {
   ProjectConfiguration,
   ProjectMetadata,
@@ -166,7 +167,10 @@ export function getTagsFromPackageJson(packageJson: PackageJson): string[] {
   return tags;
 }
 
-export function readTargetsFromPackageJson(packageJson: PackageJson) {
+export function readTargetsFromPackageJson(
+  packageJson: PackageJson,
+  nxJson: NxJsonConfiguration
+) {
   const { scripts, nx, private: isPrivate } = packageJson ?? {};
   const res: Record<string, TargetConfiguration> = {};
   const includedScripts = nx?.includedScripts || Object.keys(scripts ?? {});
@@ -185,12 +189,24 @@ export function readTargetsFromPackageJson(packageJson: PackageJson) {
    * Add implicit nx-release-publish target for all package.json files that are
    * not marked as `"private": true` to allow for lightweight configuration for
    * package based repos.
+   *
+   * Any targetDefaults for the nx-release-publish target set by the user should
+   * be merged with the implicit target.
    */
   if (!isPrivate && !res['nx-release-publish']) {
+    const nxReleasePublishTargetDefaults =
+      nxJson?.targetDefaults?.['nx-release-publish'] ?? {};
     res['nx-release-publish'] = {
-      dependsOn: ['^nx-release-publish'],
       executor: '@nx/js:release-publish',
-      options: {},
+      ...nxReleasePublishTargetDefaults,
+      dependsOn: [
+        // For maximum correctness, projects should only ever be published once their dependencies are successfully published
+        '^nx-release-publish',
+        ...(nxReleasePublishTargetDefaults.dependsOn ?? []),
+      ],
+      options: {
+        ...(nxReleasePublishTargetDefaults.options ?? {}),
+      },
     };
   }