diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6cc2f644..9056b858 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+<a name="0.9.16"></a>
+## [0.9.16](https://github.com/dxcli/test/compare/43dfa2997d4d3889d6a5af0300a1310f5f727eb2...v0.9.16) (2018-01-28)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* fixed config loading ([11b7668](https://github.com/dxcli/test/commit/11b7668))
+
 <a name="0.9.15"></a>
 ## [0.9.15](https://github.com/dxcli/test/compare/1c361aa61eabdd02a887339d656eb06f86244a4c...v0.9.15) (2018-01-28)
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5b3727fa..f7a48cfb 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "@dxcli/test",
   "description": "test helpers for dxcli components",
-  "version": "0.9.15",
+  "version": "0.9.16",
   "author": "Jeff Dickey @jdxcode",
   "bugs": "https://github.com/dxcli/test/issues",
   "dependencies": {
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
     "@dxcli/engine": "^0.1.12",
     "@dxcli/loader": "^0.2.8",
     "@dxcli/semantic-release": "^0.3.3",
-    "@dxcli/tslint": "^0.0.23",
+    "@dxcli/tslint": "^0.0.24",
     "@dxcli/version": "^0.1.6",
     "chai": "^4.1.2",
     "cli-ux": "^3.2.2",
diff --git a/src/command.ts b/src/command.ts
index 64f62c65..3385f18d 100644
--- a/src/command.ts
+++ b/src/command.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@ import {IConfig} from '@dxcli/config'
 import run from '@dxcli/engine'
 import * as _ from 'lodash'
 
+import loadConfig from './load_config'
+
 export default (args: string[] | string | undefined) => ({
   async run(ctx: {config: IConfig, expectation: string}) {
+    if (!ctx.config) ctx.config = await loadConfig().run({} as any)
     args = _.castArray(args)
     ctx.expectation = ctx.expectation || `runs ${args.join(' ')}`
     await run(args, ctx.config)
diff --git a/src/hook.ts b/src/hook.ts
index 32b5caf6..c0dab6f4 100644
--- a/src/hook.ts
+++ b/src/hook.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import {IConfig} from '@dxcli/config'
 import {Engine} from '@dxcli/engine'
 
+import loadConfig from './load_config'
+
 /**
  * tests a dxcli hook
  *
@@ -14,6 +16,7 @@ import {Engine} from '@dxcli/engine'
  */
 export default (event?: string, hookOpts: object = {}) => ({
   async run(ctx: {config: IConfig, expectation: string}) {
+    if (!ctx.config) ctx.config = await loadConfig().run({} as any)
     ctx.expectation = ctx.expectation || `runs ${event} hook`
     const engine = new Engine()
     await engine.load(ctx.config.root)
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 2820c5ad..f7b3c311 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import exit from './exit'
 import hook from './hook'
 import loadConfig from './load_config'
 
+loadConfig.root = module.parent!.filename
+
 export const test = fancy
 .register('loadConfig', loadConfig)
 .register('command', command)
diff --git a/src/load_config.ts b/src/load_config.ts
index 4d34e9f2..fc21de08 100644
--- a/src/load_config.ts
+++ b/src/load_config.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,18 @@
-import * as path from 'path'
-
 import {IConfig} from '@dxcli/config'
 import {load} from '@dxcli/loader'
 
+export type WithRoot<T> = T & {root: string}
+
 /**
  * loads CLI plugin/multi config
  */
-export default (opts: {root?: string} = {}) => ({
-  async run(ctx: {config: IConfig}) {
-    const {config} = await load({root: opts.root || path.dirname(module.parent!.filename)})
-    ctx.config = config
+export const _loadConfig = (opts: {root?: string} = {}) => {
+  return {
+    async run(ctx: {config: IConfig}) {
+      const {config} = await load({root: opts.root || loadConfig.root})
+      return ctx.config = config
+    }
   }
-})
+}
+const loadConfig = _loadConfig as WithRoot<typeof _loadConfig>
+export default loadConfig
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 97ebf033..58b8dcda 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -203,9 +203,9 @@
     execa "^0.9.0"
     semantic-release "^12.2.5"
 
-"@dxcli/tslint@^0.0.23":
-  version "0.0.23"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@dxcli/tslint/-/tslint-0.0.23.tgz#c9877ec9927bb958c1a71edac3263007ce64b22d"
+"@dxcli/tslint@^0.0.24":
+  version "0.0.24"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@dxcli/tslint/-/tslint-0.0.24.tgz#32c19a574828d643bcb446cbfc0b2dbbbf1c1da0"
   dependencies:
     tslint "^5.9.1"
     tslint-xo "^0.5.0"