diff --git a/src/compiler/config/load-config.ts b/src/compiler/config/load-config.ts
index 93102fab913..2729c8e1611 100644
--- a/src/compiler/config/load-config.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/config/load-config.ts
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ export const loadConfig = async (init: LoadConfigInit = {}): Promise<LoadConfigR
       configPath = loadedConfigFile.configPath;
       unknownConfig.config = { ...loadedConfigFile, ...config };
       unknownConfig.config.configPath = configPath;
-      unknownConfig.config.rootDir = normalizePath(dirname(configPath));
+      unknownConfig.config.rootDir =
+        typeof config.rootDir === 'string' ? config.rootDir : normalizePath(dirname(configPath));
     } else {
       // no stencil.config.ts or .js file, which is fine
       unknownConfig.config = { ...config };
diff --git a/src/compiler/config/test/load-config.spec.ts b/src/compiler/config/test/load-config.spec.ts
index 9f92a5302f6..9fd5bb6c2be 100644
--- a/src/compiler/config/test/load-config.spec.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/config/test/load-config.spec.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ describe('load config', () => {
       sys,
       config: {
         hashedFileNameLength: 9,
+        rootDir: '/foo/bar',
       },
       initTsConfig: true,
     });
@@ -50,6 +51,8 @@ describe('load config', () => {
     expect<ConfigFlags>(actualConfig.flags).toEqual({ dev: true });
     expect(actualConfig.extras).toBeDefined();
     expect(actualConfig.extras!.enableImportInjection).toBe(true);
+    // respects custom root dir
+    expect(actualConfig.rootDir).toBe('/foo/bar');
   });
 
   it('uses the provided config path when no initial config provided', async () => {