diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index eaf7000..3d975d4 100755
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ function checkPkgMap () {
   try {
     const base = process.cwd()
     const lock = JSON.parse(stripBOM(fs.readFileSync(path.join(base, 'package-lock.json'), 'utf8')))
-    const map = JSON.parse(stripBOM(fs.readFileSync(path.join(base, 'node_modules', '.package-map.json'), 'utf8')))
+    const map = JSON.parse(stripBOM(fs.readFileSync(path.join(base, '.package-map.json'), 'utf8')))
     require('ssri').checkData(
       JSON.stringify(lock), map.lockfile_integrity, {error: true}
     )
diff --git a/lib/installer.js b/lib/installer.js
index f983748..aada6ab 100644
--- a/lib/installer.js
+++ b/lib/installer.js
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ class Installer {
       readJson(prefix, 'package.json'),
       readJson(prefix, 'package-lock.json', true),
       readJson(prefix, 'npm-shrinkwrap.json', true),
-      readJson(path.join(prefix, 'node_modules'), '.package-map.json', true),
+      readJson(prefix, '.package-map.json', true),
       (pkg, lock, shrink, map) => {
         if (shrink) {
           this.log('verbose', 'prepare', 'using npm-shrinkwrap.json')
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ class Installer {
     const lockHash = ssri.fromData(lockStr, {algorithms: ['sha256']})
     const pkgMap = {
       'lockfile_integrity': lockHash.toString(),
-      'path_prefix': '/.package-map.json'
+      'path_prefix': '/node_modules'
     }
     tree.forEach((dep, next) => {
       if (dep.isRoot) { return next() }
@@ -364,9 +364,7 @@ class Installer {
   }
 
   async writePackageMap (map) {
-    const nm = path.join(this.prefix, 'node_modules')
-    await mkdirp(nm)
-    await writeFileAsync(path.join(nm, '.package-map.json'), stringifyPkg(map))
+    await writeFileAsync(path.join(this.prefix, '.package-map.json'), stringifyPkg(map))
   }
 }
 module.exports = treeFrog
diff --git a/lib/node/fs.js b/lib/node/fs.js
index e050024..4172206 100644
--- a/lib/node/fs.js
+++ b/lib/node/fs.js
@@ -183,6 +183,7 @@ function overrideNode () {
       return stats
     }
   }
+  fs.statSync.orig = statSync
 
   const {stat} = fs
   fs.stat = function (p, callback) {
diff --git a/lib/node/module.js b/lib/node/module.js
index 42e9978..14010b7 100644
--- a/lib/node/module.js
+++ b/lib/node/module.js
@@ -23,8 +23,7 @@
 
 // NOTE: The code here is almost all identical to the regular module.js.
 //       It's reloaded here because the `process.binding('fs')` override
-//       can't retroactively affect module.js, and because `.package-map.json`
-//       needs to be added to the search path. All other functionality is
+//       can't retroactively affect module.js. All other functionality is
 //       done by the fs override itself.
 module.exports.overrideNode = overrideNode
 function overrideNode () {
@@ -137,10 +136,6 @@ function overrideNode () {
 
   let warned = false
   Module._findPath = function (request, paths, isMain) {
-    paths = paths.reduce((acc, p) => {
-      acc.push(p, path.join(p, '.package-map.json'))
-      return acc
-    }, [])
     if (path.isAbsolute(request)) {
       paths = ['']
     } else if (!paths || paths.length === 0) {
diff --git a/lib/pkgmap.js b/lib/pkgmap.js
index 6cb7493..9e8d352 100644
--- a/lib/pkgmap.js
+++ b/lib/pkgmap.js
@@ -8,11 +8,10 @@ const path = require('path')
 const ssri = require('ssri')
 
 const pkgMapName = '.package-map.json'
-const mapNameLen = pkgMapName.length
 const pkgMapCache = new Map()
 
 const envNoPkgMap = process.env.FROG_NO_PKG_MAP
-const isPkgMapDisabled = () => process.noPkgMap || envNoPkgMap
+const isPkgMapDisabled = () => !process.tink || process.tink.noPkgMap || envNoPkgMap
 
 module.exports.resolve = resolve
 module.exports._clearCache = () => pkgMapCache.clear()
@@ -23,11 +22,15 @@ function resolve (...p) {
   // expected package + file hash.
   if (isPkgMapDisabled()) { return null }
   const resolved = path.resolve(...p)
+  // If the file already exists in the filesystem, use the filesystem version
+  try {
+    (fs.statSync.orig || fs.statSync)(resolved, true)
+    return null
+  } catch (e) {}
   const result = readPkgMap(resolved)
   if (!result) { return result }
-  const {pkgMap, pkgMapIdx} = result
+  let {pkgMap, subPath} = result
   if (!pkgMap) { return false }
-  let subPath = resolved.substr(pkgMapIdx - 1)
   let pkgName, filePath
   let scope = pkgMap
   while (subPath) {
@@ -78,7 +81,7 @@ function resolveEntity (scope, pkgName, filePath) {
     const next = split.shift()
     if (next === '.') { continue }
     location = location[next]
-    if (typeof location === 'string') {
+    if (typeof location === 'string' && !split.length) {
       return {hash: location, isFile: true}
     } else if (!location || typeof location !== 'object') {
       return false
@@ -92,21 +95,31 @@ function resolveEntity (scope, pkgName, filePath) {
 module.exports.readPkgMap = readPkgMap
 function readPkgMap (...p) {
   const resolved = path.resolve(...p)
-  const pkgMapIdx = resolved.indexOf(pkgMapName)
-  if (pkgMapIdx === -1 || pkgMapIdx + mapNameLen + 1 >= resolved.length) {
-    // Not in a pkgmapped path, or reading a .package-map.json itself
-    return null
-  }
-  const pkgMapPath = resolved.substr(0, pkgMapIdx + mapNameLen)
-  let pkgMap
-  if (pkgMapCache.has(pkgMapPath)) {
-    pkgMap = pkgMapCache.get(pkgMapPath)
-  } else {
-    const p = path.toNamespacedPath ? path.toNamespacedPath(pkgMapPath) : pkgMapPath
-    pkgMap = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(p))
-    pkgMapCache.set(pkgMapPath, pkgMap)
+  let modulesIdx = resolved.lastIndexOf('node_modules')
+  while (modulesIdx !== -1) {
+    let substr = resolved.substr(0, modulesIdx - 1)
+    const pkgMapPath = path.join(substr, pkgMapName)
+    let pkgMap
+    if (pkgMapCache.has(pkgMapPath)) {
+      pkgMap = pkgMapCache.get(pkgMapPath)
+    } else {
+      const p = path.toNamespacedPath(pkgMapPath)
+      try {
+        pkgMap = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(p))
+        pkgMapCache.set(pkgMapPath, pkgMap)
+      } catch (e) {
+        if (e.code !== 'ENOENT') {
+          throw e
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    if (pkgMap) {
+      return {pkgMap, subPath: resolved.substr(modulesIdx - 1)}
+    } else {
+      modulesIdx = substr.lastIndexOf('node_modules')
+    }
   }
-  return {pkgMap, pkgMapIdx}
+  return null
 }
 
 module.exports.read = read
@@ -143,15 +156,15 @@ function readSync ({cache, hash, pkg, resolvedPath, isFile}) {
 
 module.exports.stat = stat
 async function stat ({cache, hash, pkg, resolvedPath, isDir}, verify) {
-  if (!cache || !hash) {
-    throw new Error('stat() requires a fully-resolved pkgmap file address')
-  }
   if (isDir || path.basename(resolvedPath) === '.package-map.json') {
     return Object.assign(fs.lstatSync(process.tink.cache), {
       mode: 16676, // read-only
       size: 64
     })
   }
+  if (!cache || !hash) {
+    throw new Error('stat() requires a fully-resolved pkgmap file address')
+  }
   let info
   try {
     info = await ccRead.hasContent(cache, hash)
@@ -188,15 +201,15 @@ async function stat ({cache, hash, pkg, resolvedPath, isDir}, verify) {
 
 module.exports.statSync = statSync
 function statSync ({cache, hash, pkg, resolvedPath, isDir}, verify) {
-  if (!cache || !hash) {
-    throw new Error('statSync() requires a fully-resolved pkgmap file address')
-  }
   if (isDir || path.basename(resolvedPath) === '.package-map.json') {
     return Object.assign(fs.lstatSync(process.tink.cache), {
       mode: 16676, // read-only
       size: 64
     })
   }
+  if (!cache || !hash) {
+    throw new Error('statSync() requires a fully-resolved pkgmap file address')
+  }
   let info
   try {
     info = ccRead.hasContent.sync(cache, hash)
diff --git a/test/pkgmap.js b/test/pkgmap.js
index 08d1164..126378d 100644
--- a/test/pkgmap.js
+++ b/test/pkgmap.js
@@ -11,13 +11,58 @@ const {File, Dir} = Tacks
 
 const pkgmap = require('../lib/pkgmap.js')
 
+test('UNIT readPkgMap', t => {
+  process.tink = {
+    cache: './here'
+  }
+  const pkgMap = {
+    path_prefix: '/node_modules',
+    packages: {
+      'eggplant': {
+        files: {
+          'hello.js': 'sha1-deadbeef'
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    scopes: {
+      'eggplant': {
+        path_prefix: '/node_modules',
+        packages: {
+          'aubergine': {
+            files: {
+              'bonjour.js': 'sha1-badc0ffee'
+            }
+          },
+          '@myscope/scoped': {
+            files: {
+              'ohmy.js': 'sha1-abcdef',
+              'lib': {
+                'hithere.js': 'sha1-badbebe'
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  const fixture = new Tacks(Dir({
+    '.package-map.json': File(pkgMap)
+  }))
+  fixture.create(testDir.path)
+  t.deepEqual(pkgmap.readPkgMap('node_modules/eggplant'), {
+    pkgMap,
+    subPath: '/node_modules/eggplant'
+  })
+  t.done()
+})
+
 test('resolve: finds an existing path into a .package-map.json', async t => {
   process.tink = {
     cache: './here'
   }
   const fixture = new Tacks(Dir({
     '.package-map.json': File({
-      path_prefix: '/.package-map.json',
+      path_prefix: '/node_modules',
       packages: {
         'eggplant': {
           files: {
@@ -48,7 +93,7 @@ test('resolve: finds an existing path into a .package-map.json', async t => {
     })
   }))
   fixture.create(testDir.path)
-  const prefix = path.join(testDir.path, '.package-map.json', 'eggplant')
+  const prefix = path.join(testDir.path, 'node_modules', 'eggplant')
   t.similar(pkgmap.resolve(prefix, 'hello.js'), {
     cache: './here',
     hash: 'sha1-deadbeef',
@@ -90,9 +135,7 @@ test('resolve: finds an existing path into a .package-map.json', async t => {
     }
   }, 'found file even though pkgmap deleted')
   pkgmap._clearCache()
-  t.throws(() => {
-    pkgmap.resolve(prefix, 'hello.js')
-  }, /ENOENT/, 'cache gone after clearing')
+  t.equal(pkgmap.resolve(prefix, 'hello.js'), null, 'cache gone')
   pkgmap._clearCache()
 })
 
@@ -104,7 +147,7 @@ test('read: reads a file defined in a package map', async t => {
   }
   const fixture = new Tacks(Dir({
     '.package-map.json': File({
-      path_prefix: '/.package-map.json',
+      path_prefix: '/node_modules',
       packages: {
         'eggplant': {
           files: {
@@ -116,7 +159,7 @@ test('read: reads a file defined in a package map', async t => {
   }))
   fixture.create(testDir.path)
   const p = pkgmap.resolve(
-    testDir.path, '.package-map.json', 'eggplant', 'hello.js'
+    testDir.path, 'node_modules', 'eggplant', 'hello.js'
   )
   t.equal(
     (await pkgmap.read(p)).toString('utf8'),
@@ -141,7 +184,7 @@ test('stat: get filesystem stats for a file', async t => {
   }
   const fixture = new Tacks(Dir({
     '.package-map.json': File({
-      path_prefix: '/.package-map.json',
+      path_prefix: '/node_modules',
       packages: {
         'eggplant': {
           files: {
@@ -153,7 +196,7 @@ test('stat: get filesystem stats for a file', async t => {
   }))
   fixture.create(testDir.path)
   const p = pkgmap.resolve(
-    testDir.path, '.package-map.json', 'eggplant', 'hello.js'
+    testDir.path, 'node_modules', 'eggplant', 'hello.js'
   )
   const stat = await pkgmap.stat(p)
   t.ok(stat, 'got stat from cache file')