diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/npm.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/npm.py
index c09f050448..e469d66768 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/npm.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/npm.py
@@ -91,6 +91,12 @@ class NpmEnvironment(object):
         self.d = d
 
         self.user_config = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(mode="w", buffering=1)
+
+        hn = self._home_npmrc(d)
+        if hn is not None:
+            with open(hn, 'r') as hnf:
+                self.user_config.write(hnf.read())
+
         for key, value in configs:
             self.user_config.write("%s=%s\n" % (key, value))
 
@@ -103,6 +109,15 @@ class NpmEnvironment(object):
         if self.user_config:
             self.user_config.close()
 
+    def _home_npmrc(self, d):
+        """Function to return user's HOME .npmrc file (or None if it doesn't exist)"""
+        home_npmrc_file = os.path.join(os.environ.get("HOME"), ".npmrc")
+        if d.getVar("BB_USE_HOME_NPMRC") == "1" and os.path.exists(home_npmrc_file):
+            bb.warn(f"BB_USE_HOME_NPMRC flag set and valid .npmrc detected - "\
+                    f"npm fetcher will use {home_npmrc_file}")
+            return home_npmrc_file
+        return None
+
     def run(self, cmd, args=None, configs=None, workdir=None):
         """Run npm command in a controlled environment"""
         with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir: