diff --git a/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/ProjectConfig/Lens.hs b/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/ProjectConfig/Lens.hs
index cb6c2c60fa9..03e05835cd6 100644
--- a/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/ProjectConfig/Lens.hs
+++ b/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/ProjectConfig/Lens.hs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import Distribution.PackageDescription
 import Distribution.Simple.Compiler
   ( DebugInfoLevel (..)
   , OptimisationLevel (..)
-  , PackageDB
+  , PackageDBCWD
   , ProfDetailLevel
   )
 import Distribution.Simple.InstallDirs
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ projectConfigInstallDirs :: Lens' ProjectConfigShared (InstallDirs (Flag PathTem
 projectConfigInstallDirs f s = fmap (\x -> s{T.projectConfigInstallDirs = x}) (f (T.projectConfigInstallDirs s))
 {-# INLINEABLE projectConfigInstallDirs #-}
 
-projectConfigPackageDBs :: Lens' ProjectConfigShared [Maybe PackageDB]
+projectConfigPackageDBs :: Lens' ProjectConfigShared [Maybe PackageDBCWD]
 projectConfigPackageDBs f s = fmap (\x -> s{T.projectConfigPackageDBs = x}) (f (T.projectConfigPackageDBs s))
 {-# INLINEABLE projectConfigPackageDBs #-}
 
diff --git a/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/Utils/Newtypes.hs b/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/Utils/Newtypes.hs
index 976c08c1d1b..aa60eea697c 100644
--- a/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/Utils/Newtypes.hs
+++ b/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/Utils/Newtypes.hs
@@ -21,19 +21,19 @@ import Distribution.Client.Types.AllowNewer (AllowNewer (..), AllowOlder (..))
 import Distribution.Compat.CharParsing
 import Distribution.Compat.Newtype
 import Distribution.Parsec
-import Distribution.Simple.Compiler (PackageDB (..), readPackageDb)
+import Distribution.Simple.Compiler (PackageDBCWD, interpretPackageDB, readPackageDb)
 import Distribution.Solver.Types.ConstraintSource (ConstraintSource (..))
 import Network.URI (URI, parseURI)
 
-newtype PackageDBNT = PackageDBNT {getPackageDBNT :: Maybe PackageDB}
+newtype PackageDBNT = PackageDBNT {getPackageDBNT :: Maybe PackageDBCWD}
 
-instance Newtype (Maybe PackageDB) PackageDBNT
+instance Newtype (Maybe PackageDBCWD) PackageDBNT
 
 instance Parsec PackageDBNT where
   parsec = parsecPackageDB
 
 parsecPackageDB :: CabalParsing m => m PackageDBNT
-parsecPackageDB = PackageDBNT . readPackageDb <$> parsecToken
+parsecPackageDB = PackageDBNT . fmap (interpretPackageDB Nothing) . readPackageDb <$> parsecToken
 
 newtype NumJobs = NumJobs {getNumJobs :: Maybe Int}