diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 62c715686a..1430cd9354 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ incremented for features.
 * cli: Add `anchor clean` command that's the same as `cargo clean` but preserves keypairs inside `target/deploy` ([#1470](https://github.com/project-serum/anchor/issues/1470)).
 * lang: Add new `AccountSysvarMismatch` error code and test cases for sysvars ([#1535](https://github.com/project-serum/anchor/pull/1535)).
 * spl: Add support for revoke instruction ([#1493](https://github.com/project-serum/anchor/pull/1493)).
+* cli: Add support for `anchor idl fetch` to work outside anchor workspace ([#1509](https://github.com/project-serum/anchor/pull/1509)).
 * ts: Add provider parameter to `Spl.token` factory method ([#1597](https://github.com/project-serum/anchor/pull/1597)).
 
 ### Fixes
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index f5095bd77d..2245d33e05 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde_json",
  "serum-common",
  "shellexpand",
+ "solana-cli-config",
  "solana-client",
  "solana-program",
  "solana-sdk",
@@ -1089,12 +1090,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 0.15.44",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "dtoa"
-version = "0.4.8"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "56899898ce76aaf4a0f24d914c97ea6ed976d42fec6ad33fcbb0a1103e07b2b0"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "ed25519"
 version = "1.2.0"
@@ -2844,12 +2839,12 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "serde_yaml"
-version = "0.8.21"
+version = "0.8.23"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "d8c608a35705a5d3cdc9fbe403147647ff34b921f8e833e49306df898f9b20af"
+checksum = "a4a521f2940385c165a24ee286aa8599633d162077a54bdcae2a6fd5a7bfa7a0"
 dependencies = [
- "dtoa",
  "indexmap",
+ "ryu",
  "serde",
  "yaml-rust",
 ]
diff --git a/cli/Cargo.toml b/cli/Cargo.toml
index f0227a3f8b..93143242f2 100644
--- a/cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ serde = { version = "1.0.122", features = ["derive"] }
 solana-sdk = "1.8.5"
 solana-program = "1.8.5"
 solana-client = "1.8.5"
+solana-cli-config = "1.8.5"
 serum-common = { git = "https://github.com/project-serum/serum-dex", features = ["client"] }
 dirs = "3.0"
 heck = "0.3.1"
diff --git a/cli/src/config.rs b/cli/src/config.rs
index 0e828ff350..54455eab48 100644
--- a/cli/src/config.rs
+++ b/cli/src/config.rs
@@ -4,11 +4,13 @@ use anyhow::{anyhow, Error, Result};
 use clap::{ArgEnum, Parser};
 use heck::SnakeCase;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use solana_cli_config::{Config as SolanaConfig, CONFIG_FILE};
 use solana_sdk::pubkey::Pubkey;
 use solana_sdk::signature::{Keypair, Signer};
 use std::collections::BTreeMap;
 use std::convert::TryFrom;
 use std::fs::{self, File};
+use std::io;
 use std::io::prelude::*;
 use std::ops::Deref;
 use std::path::Path;
@@ -445,6 +447,16 @@ impl FromStr for Config {
     }
 }
 
+pub fn get_solana_cfg_url() -> Result<String, io::Error> {
+    let config_file = CONFIG_FILE.as_ref().ok_or_else(|| {
+        io::Error::new(
+            io::ErrorKind::NotFound,
+            "Default Solana config was not found",
+        )
+    })?;
+    SolanaConfig::load(config_file).map(|config| config.json_rpc_url)
+}
+
 fn ser_programs(
     programs: &BTreeMap<Cluster, BTreeMap<String, ProgramDeployment>>,
 ) -> BTreeMap<String, BTreeMap<String, serde_json::Value>> {
diff --git a/cli/src/lib.rs b/cli/src/lib.rs
index f8c486e1e8..3b92b5cfad 100644
--- a/cli/src/lib.rs
+++ b/cli/src/lib.rs
@@ -1400,8 +1400,21 @@ pub enum BinVerificationState {
 
 // Fetches an IDL for the given program_id.
 fn fetch_idl(cfg_override: &ConfigOverride, idl_addr: Pubkey) -> Result<Idl> {
-    let cfg = Config::discover(cfg_override)?.expect("Inside a workspace");
-    let url = cluster_url(&cfg);
+    let url = match Config::discover(cfg_override)? {
+        Some(cfg) => cluster_url(&cfg),
+        None => {
+            // If the command is not run inside a workspace,
+            // cluster_url will be used from default solana config
+            // provider.cluster option can be used to override this
+
+            if let Some(cluster) = cfg_override.cluster.clone() {
+                cluster.url().to_string()
+            } else {
+                config::get_solana_cfg_url()?
+            }
+        }
+    };
+
     let client = RpcClient::new(url);
 
     let mut account = client