diff --git a/packages/workspace/package.json b/packages/workspace/package.json
index ea97ea3f142e3..5568f0e840e80 100644
--- a/packages/workspace/package.json
+++ b/packages/workspace/package.json
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "@angular-devkit/core": "8.0.1",
     "@angular-devkit/schematics": "8.0.1",
-    "app-root-path": "^2.0.1",
     "cosmiconfig": "4.0.0",
     "fs-extra": "6.0.0",
     "graphviz": "0.0.8",
diff --git a/packages/workspace/src/command-line/deps-calculator.ts b/packages/workspace/src/command-line/deps-calculator.ts
index e17b25b501e79..038d3b312fb73 100644
--- a/packages/workspace/src/command-line/deps-calculator.ts
+++ b/packages/workspace/src/command-line/deps-calculator.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import * as path from 'path';
 import * as ts from 'typescript';
-import * as appRoot from 'app-root-path';
 
 import {
   normalizedProjectRoot,
@@ -17,6 +16,7 @@ import {
   writeToFile
 } from '../utils/fileutils';
 import { stripSourceCode } from '../utils/strip-source-code';
+import { appRootPath } from '../utils/app-root';
 
 export type DepGraph = {
   projects: ProjectNode[];
@@ -44,15 +44,15 @@ export function readDependencies(
   npmScope: string,
   projectNodes: ProjectNode[]
 ): Deps {
-  const nxDepsPath = `${appRoot.path}/dist/nxdeps.json`;
+  const nxDepsPath = `${appRootPath}/dist/nxdeps.json`;
   const m = lastModifiedAmongProjectFiles(projectNodes);
-  if (!directoryExists(`${appRoot.path}/dist`)) {
-    mkdirSync(`${appRoot.path}/dist`);
+  if (!directoryExists(`${appRootPath}/dist`)) {
+    mkdirSync(`${appRootPath}/dist`);
   }
   const existingDeps = fileExists(nxDepsPath) ? readJsonFile(nxDepsPath) : null;
   if (!existingDeps || m > mtime(nxDepsPath)) {
     return dependencies(npmScope, projectNodes, existingDeps, (f: string) =>
-      readFileSync(`${appRoot.path}/${f}`, 'UTF-8')
+      readFileSync(`${appRootPath}/${f}`, 'UTF-8')
     );
   } else {
     return existingDeps.dependencies;
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ export function dependencies(
   existingDependencies: NxDepsJson | null,
   fileRead: (s: string) => string
 ): Deps {
-  const nxDepsPath = `${appRoot.path}/dist/nxdeps.json`;
+  const nxDepsPath = `${appRootPath}/dist/nxdeps.json`;
   const nxDepsExists = fileExists(nxDepsPath);
   const nxDepsMTime = nxDepsExists ? mtime(nxDepsPath) : -Infinity;
   const calculator = new DepsCalculator(
diff --git a/packages/workspace/src/command-line/lint.ts b/packages/workspace/src/command-line/lint.ts
index eb9ec9b6add49..b2f05e30c7b0c 100644
--- a/packages/workspace/src/command-line/lint.ts
+++ b/packages/workspace/src/command-line/lint.ts
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ import {
   readNxJson
 } from './shared';
 import { WorkspaceIntegrityChecks } from './workspace-integrity-checks';
-import * as appRoot from 'app-root-path';
 import * as path from 'path';
+import { appRootPath } from '../utils/app-root';
 
 export function lint() {
   const nodes = getProjectNodes(readAngularJson(), readNxJson());
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ export function lint() {
 
 function readAllFilesFromAppsAndLibs() {
   return [
-    ...allFilesInDir(`${appRoot.path}/apps`).map(f => f.file),
-    ...allFilesInDir(`${appRoot.path}/libs`).map(f => f.file)
+    ...allFilesInDir(`${appRootPath}/apps`).map(f => f.file),
+    ...allFilesInDir(`${appRootPath}/libs`).map(f => f.file)
   ].filter(f => !path.basename(f).startsWith('.'));
 }
diff --git a/packages/workspace/src/command-line/shared.ts b/packages/workspace/src/command-line/shared.ts
index 442823b9933f9..cd63380bf6543 100644
--- a/packages/workspace/src/command-line/shared.ts
+++ b/packages/workspace/src/command-line/shared.ts
@@ -10,11 +10,11 @@ import {
   affectedProjectNamesWithTarget
 } from './affected-apps';
 import * as fs from 'fs';
-import * as appRoot from 'app-root-path';
 import { readJsonFile } from '../utils/fileutils';
 import { YargsAffectedOptions } from './affected';
 import { readDependencies, DepGraph, Deps } from './deps-calculator';
 import { touchedProjects } from './touched';
+import { appRootPath } from '../utils/app-root';
 
 const ignore = require('ignore');
 
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ function readFileIfExisting(path: string) {
 }
 
 const ig = ignore();
-ig.add(readFileIfExisting(`${appRoot.path}/.gitignore`));
+ig.add(readFileIfExisting(`${appRootPath}/.gitignore`));
 
 export function printArgsWarning(options: YargsAffectedOptions) {
   const { files, uncommitted, untracked, base, head, all } = options;
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ export function getProjectNodes(
       implicitDependencies = [key.replace(/-e2e$/, '')];
     }
 
-    const filesWithMTimes = allFilesInDir(`${appRoot.path}/${p.root}`);
+    const filesWithMTimes = allFilesInDir(`${appRootPath}/${p.root}`);
     const fileMTimes = {};
     filesWithMTimes.forEach(f => {
       fileMTimes[f.file] = f.mtime;
@@ -350,11 +350,11 @@ function minus(a: string[], b: string[]): string[] {
 }
 
 export function readAngularJson(): any {
-  return readJsonFile(`${appRoot.path}/angular.json`);
+  return readJsonFile(`${appRootPath}/angular.json`);
 }
 
 export function readNxJson(): NxJson {
-  const config = readJsonFile<NxJson>(`${appRoot.path}/nx.json`);
+  const config = readJsonFile<NxJson>(`${appRootPath}/nx.json`);
   if (!config.npmScope) {
     throw new Error(`nx.json must define the npmScope property.`);
   }
@@ -423,7 +423,7 @@ export function allFilesInDir(
   dirName: string
 ): { file: string; mtime: number }[] {
   // Ignore .gitignored files
-  if (ig.ignores(path.relative(appRoot.path, dirName))) {
+  if (ig.ignores(path.relative(appRootPath, dirName))) {
     return [];
   }
 
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ export function allFilesInDir(
   try {
     fs.readdirSync(dirName).forEach(c => {
       const child = path.join(dirName, c);
-      if (ig.ignores(path.relative(appRoot.path, child))) {
+      if (ig.ignores(path.relative(appRootPath, child))) {
         return;
       }
       try {
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ export function allFilesInDir(
         if (!s.isDirectory()) {
           // add starting with "apps/myapp/..." or "libs/mylib/..."
           res.push({
-            file: normalizePath(path.relative(appRoot.path, child)),
+            file: normalizePath(path.relative(appRootPath, child)),
             mtime: s.mtimeMs
           });
         } else if (s.isDirectory()) {
@@ -455,10 +455,10 @@ export function lastModifiedAmongProjectFiles(projects: ProjectNode[]) {
   return Math.max(
     ...[
       ...projects.map(project => getProjectMTime(project)),
-      mtime(`${appRoot.path}/angular.json`),
-      mtime(`${appRoot.path}/nx.json`),
-      mtime(`${appRoot.path}/tslint.json`),
-      mtime(`${appRoot.path}/package.json`)
+      mtime(`${appRootPath}/angular.json`),
+      mtime(`${appRootPath}/nx.json`),
+      mtime(`${appRootPath}/tslint.json`),
+      mtime(`${appRootPath}/package.json`)
     ]
   );
 }
diff --git a/packages/workspace/src/command-line/workspace-schematic.ts b/packages/workspace/src/command-line/workspace-schematic.ts
index 746c30e4ef102..15c264dd36986 100644
--- a/packages/workspace/src/command-line/workspace-schematic.ts
+++ b/packages/workspace/src/command-line/workspace-schematic.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ import {
   NodeModulesEngineHost,
   NodeWorkflow
 } from '@angular-devkit/schematics/tools';
-import * as appRoot from 'app-root-path';
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
 import * as fs from 'fs';
 import { readFileSync, writeFileSync } from 'fs';
@@ -23,8 +22,9 @@ import * as inquirer from 'inquirer';
 import * as path from 'path';
 import * as yargsParser from 'yargs-parser';
 import { fileExists } from '../utils/fileutils';
+import { appRootPath } from '../utils/app-root';
 
-const rootDirectory = appRoot.path;
+const rootDirectory = appRootPath;
 
 export function workspaceSchematic(args: string[]) {
   const parsedArgs = parseOptions(args);
diff --git a/packages/workspace/src/tslint/nxEnforceModuleBoundariesRule.ts b/packages/workspace/src/tslint/nxEnforceModuleBoundariesRule.ts
index e0bee53a9815a..c80bbeafd1bd1 100644
--- a/packages/workspace/src/tslint/nxEnforceModuleBoundariesRule.ts
+++ b/packages/workspace/src/tslint/nxEnforceModuleBoundariesRule.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import * as path from 'path';
 import * as Lint from 'tslint';
 import { IOptions } from 'tslint';
 import * as ts from 'typescript';
-import * as appRoot from 'app-root-path';
 import {
   getProjectNodes,
   normalizedProjectRoot,
@@ -15,6 +14,7 @@ import {
   DependencyType,
   readDependencies
 } from '../command-line/deps-calculator';
+import { appRootPath } from '../utils/app-root';
 
 export class Rule extends Lint.Rules.AbstractRule {
   constructor(
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ export class Rule extends Lint.Rules.AbstractRule {
   ) {
     super(options);
     if (!projectPath) {
-      this.projectPath = appRoot.path;
+      this.projectPath = appRootPath;
       if (!(global as any).projectNodes) {
         const angularJson = readAngularJson();
         const nxJson = readNxJson();
diff --git a/packages/workspace/src/utils/app-root.ts b/packages/workspace/src/utils/app-root.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e51f8677849ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/workspace/src/utils/app-root.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import { fileExists } from './fileutils';
+import * as path from 'path';
+
+export const appRootPath = pathInner(__dirname);
+
+function pathInner(dir: string): string {
+  if (path.dirname(dir) === dir) return process.cwd();
+  if (fileExists(path.join(dir, 'angular.json'))) {
+    return dir;
+  } else {
+    return pathInner(path.dirname(dir));
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/workspace/src/utils/rules/format-files.ts b/packages/workspace/src/utils/rules/format-files.ts
index 4e7e8e04d34ad..35c370ad895f2 100644
--- a/packages/workspace/src/utils/rules/format-files.ts
+++ b/packages/workspace/src/utils/rules/format-files.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,16 @@
 import {
-  Tree,
-  SchematicContext,
-  Rule,
+  CreateFileAction,
   noop,
   OverwriteFileAction,
-  CreateFileAction
+  Rule,
+  SchematicContext,
+  Tree
 } from '@angular-devkit/schematics';
-import { format, resolveConfig, getFileInfo } from 'prettier';
-import * as appRoot from 'app-root-path';
-import { from, Observable } from 'rxjs';
-import { concatMap, delay, filter, map, mergeMap } from 'rxjs/operators';
+import { format, getFileInfo, resolveConfig } from 'prettier';
+import { from } from 'rxjs';
+import { filter, map, mergeMap } from 'rxjs/operators';
+import * as path from 'path';
+import { appRootPath } from '../app-root';
 
 export function formatFiles(
   options: { skipFormat: boolean } = { skipFormat: false }
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ export function formatFiles(
     return from(files).pipe(
       filter(file => host.exists(file.path)),
       mergeMap(async file => {
-        const systemPath = appRoot.resolve(file.path);
+        const systemPath = path.join(appRootPath, file.path);
         let options: any = {
           filepath: systemPath
         };