diff --git a/poethepoet/task/base.py b/poethepoet/task/base.py
index 147ec5e29..9f25374f5 100644
--- a/poethepoet/task/base.py
+++ b/poethepoet/task/base.py
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._config = config
         self._is_windows = sys.platform == "win32"
         self.invocation = invocation
-        self.inheritance = inheritance or TaskInheritance(cwd=str(config.cwd))
+        self.inheritance = inheritance or TaskInheritance(cwd=str(config.project_dir))
 
     @classmethod
     def from_config(
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/cwd_project/pyproject.toml b/tests/fixtures/cwd_project/pyproject.toml
index 7c98f7ee0..eb760bd8a 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/cwd_project/pyproject.toml
+++ b/tests/fixtures/cwd_project/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+[tool.poe.tasks.default_pwd]
+cmd = "poe_test_pwd"
+
 [tool.poe.tasks.cwd]
 cmd = "poe_test_pwd"
 cwd = "./subdir/foo"
diff --git a/tests/test_cmd_tasks.py b/tests/test_cmd_tasks.py
index 6b12b07ab..8cdd7b125 100644
--- a/tests/test_cmd_tasks.py
+++ b/tests/test_cmd_tasks.py
@@ -78,6 +78,21 @@ def test_cmd_task_with_cwd_option_env(run_poe_subproc, poe_project_path):
     assert result.stderr == ""
 
 
+def test_cmd_task_runs_in_project_root_by_default(
+    run_poe_subproc, poe_project_path, projects
+):
+    result = run_poe_subproc(
+        "default_pwd",
+        project="cwd",
+        cwd=poe_project_path.joinpath(
+            "tests", "fixtures", "cwd_project", "subdir", "foo"
+        ),
+    )
+    assert result.capture == "Poe => poe_test_pwd\n"
+    assert result.stdout == f"{projects['cwd']}\n"
+    assert result.stderr == ""
+
+
 def test_cmd_task_with_cwd_option_pwd(run_poe_subproc, poe_project_path):
     result = run_poe_subproc(
         "cwd_poe_pwd",