diff --git a/cmd/cmd.js b/cmd/cmd.js
index 179b5d23..5382d6cb 100644
--- a/cmd/cmd.js
+++ b/cmd/cmd.js
@@ -25,16 +25,6 @@ if (!process.env.PKG_PATH) {
   process.env.PKG_PATH = process.env.PWD;
 }
 
-// NOTE: setting NODE_PATH at runtime won't effect lookup behavior in the
-// current process, but will take effect in child processes; this enables
-// lookup of *global* embark's own node_modules from within dapp scripts (such
-// as an ejected webpack.config.js), making embark's dependencies trasitive
-// dependencies of a dapp without the dapp explicitly specifying embark as a
-// dependency in the dapp's package.json
-process.env.NODE_PATH = utils.joinPath(process.env.EMBARK_PATH, 'node_modules') +
-  (process.env.NODE_PATH ? require('path').delimiter : '') +
-  (process.env.NODE_PATH || '');
-
 process.env.DEFAULT_DIAGRAM_PATH = utils.joinPath(process.env.DAPP_PATH, 'diagram.svg');
 process.env.DEFAULT_CMD_HISTORY_PATH = utils.joinPath(process.env.DAPP_PATH, '.embark', 'cmd_history');
 process.env.DEFAULT_CMD_HISTORY_SIZE = 20;
diff --git a/lib/modules/pipeline/webpack.config.js b/lib/modules/pipeline/webpack.config.js
index a350e25d..d60591df 100644
--- a/lib/modules/pipeline/webpack.config.js
+++ b/lib/modules/pipeline/webpack.config.js
@@ -1,27 +1,36 @@
-// some packages, plugins, and presets referenced/required in this webpack
-// config are deps of embark and will be transitive dapp deps unless specified
-// in the dapp's own package.json
+/* global __dirname module process require */
 
-// embark modifies process.env.NODE_PATH so that when running dapp scripts in
-// embark's child processes, embark's own node_modules directory will be
-// searched by node's require(); however, webpack and babel do not directly
-// support NODE_PATH, so modules such as babel plugins and presets must be
-// resolved with require.resolve(); that is only necessary if a plugin/preset
-// is in embark's node_modules vs. the dapp's node_modules
-
-const cloneDeep = require('lodash.clonedeep');
-// const CompressionPlugin = require('compression-webpack-plugin');
-const glob = require('glob');
-const HardSourceWebpackPlugin = require('hard-source-webpack-plugin');
 const path = require('path');
 
 const dappPath = process.env.DAPP_PATH;
 const embarkPath = process.env.EMBARK_PATH;
 
+const dappNodeModules = path.join(dappPath, 'node_modules');
+const embarkNodeModules = path.join(embarkPath, 'node_modules');
+
+function customRequire(mod) {
+  return require(customRequire.resolve(mod));
+}
+
+customRequire.resolve = function (mod) {
+  return require.resolve(
+    mod,
+    {paths: [dappNodeModules, embarkNodeModules]}
+  );
+};
+
+// some packages, plugins, and presets referenced/required in this webpack
+// config are deps of embark and will effectively be transitive dapp deps
+// unless specified in the dapp's own package.json
+
+const cloneDeep = customRequire('lodash.clonedeep');
+// const CompressionPlugin = customRequire('compression-webpack-plugin');
+const glob = customRequire('glob');
+const HardSourceWebpackPlugin = customRequire('hard-source-webpack-plugin');
+
 const embarkAliases = require(path.join(dappPath, '.embark/embark-aliases.json'));
 const embarkAssets = require(path.join(dappPath, '.embark/embark-assets.json'));
 const embarkJson = require(path.join(dappPath, 'embark.json'));
-const embarkNodeModules = path.join(embarkPath, 'node_modules');
 const embarkPipeline = require(path.join(dappPath, '.embark/embark-pipeline.json'));
 
 const buildDir = path.join(dappPath, embarkJson.buildDir);
@@ -57,10 +66,10 @@ const entry = Object.keys(embarkAssets)
 function resolve(pkgName) {
   if (Array.isArray(pkgName)) {
     const _pkgName = pkgName[0];
-    pkgName[0] = require.resolve(_pkgName);
+    pkgName[0] = customRequire.resolve(_pkgName);
     return pkgName;
   }
-  return require.resolve(pkgName);
+  return customRequire.resolve(pkgName);
 }
 
 // base config
@@ -200,7 +209,7 @@ const isFlowEnabled = !embarkPipeline.typescript;
 if (isFlowEnabled) {
   // position @babel/plugin-transform-flow-strip-types per babel-preset-react-app
   baseBabelLoader.options.plugins.unshift(
-    require.resolve('@babel/plugin-transform-flow-strip-types')
+    customRequire.resolve('@babel/plugin-transform-flow-strip-types')
   );
 }
 
@@ -213,7 +222,7 @@ if (isTypeScriptEnabled) {
   // position @babel/preset-typescript as the last preset (runs first)
   // see: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/typescript/2018/08/27/typescript-and-babel-7/
   baseBabelLoader.options.presets.push(
-    require.resolve('@babel/preset-typescript')
+    customRequire.resolve('@babel/preset-typescript')
   );
   // additional extensions
   baseBabelLoader.test = /\.(js|ts)x?$/;
@@ -250,7 +259,7 @@ production.name = 'production';
 const prodBabelLoader = production.module.rules[3];
 // position babel-plugin-transform-react-remove-prop-types per babel-preset-react-app
 prodBabelLoader.options.plugins.splice(prodBabelLoader.length - 1, 0, [
-  require.resolve('babel-plugin-transform-react-remove-prop-types'),
+  customRequire.resolve('babel-plugin-transform-react-remove-prop-types'),
   {
     removeImport: true
   }