diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli.ts
index 1f49d63430437..c93e118010e07 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli.ts
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ async function initCommandLine() {
           watch: args.watch,
           traceLogs: args.logs,
           concurrency: args.concurrency,
-          assetParallelism: args.assetParallelism,
+          assetParallelism: configuration.settings.get(['assetParallelism']),
         });
 
       case 'import':