diff --git a/packages/run/README.md b/packages/run/README.md
index d0a9907f..9faa7363 100644
--- a/packages/run/README.md
+++ b/packages/run/README.md
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ Nx will run tasks in an order and with a concurrency that it determines appropri
 
 **This behavior allows Nx to run tasks in the most efficient way possible, but it also means that some existing options for `lerna run` become obsolete as explained below.**
 
-> **Note** when Lerna is set to use Nx and detects `nx.json` in the workspace, it will defer to Nx to detect task dependencies. Some options for `lerna run` will behave differently. See [Using Lerna (Powered by Nx) to Run Tasks](./recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks) for more details.
+> **Note** when Lerna is set to use Nx and detects `nx.json` with `targetDefaults` in the workspace, it will defer to Nx to detect task dependencies. Some options for `lerna run` will behave differently. See [Using Lerna (Powered by Nx) to Run Tasks](./recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks) for more details.
 
 #### Obsolete Options when `useNx` is enabled
 
@@ -207,4 +207,4 @@ This is no longer a problem when Lerna uses Nx to run tasks. Nx, utilizing its [
 
 When used with Nx, `--ignore` will never cause `lerna run` to exclude any tasks that are deemed to be required by the Nx [task graph](https://nx.dev/concepts/mental-model#the-task-graph).
 
-> **Tip** the effects on the options above will only apply if `nx.json` exists in the root. If `nx.json` does not exist and `useNx` is `true`, then they will behave just as they would with Lerna's base task runner (if `useNx` is `false`).
\ No newline at end of file
+> **Tip** the effects on the options above will only apply if `nx.json` exists in the root with the `targetDefaults` property defined. Otherwise, they will behave just as they would with Lerna's base task runner (if `useNx` is `false`).
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/lerna.json b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/lerna.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d6ec96fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/lerna.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "useNx": true
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/nx.json b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/nx.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f3cca4d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/nx.json
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+{
+  "tasksRunnerOptions": {
+    "default": {
+      "runner": "nx/tasks-runners/default",
+      "options": {
+        "useDaemonProcess": false,
+        "cacheableOperations": ["my-cacheable-script"]
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  "targetDefaults": {
+    "build": {
+      "dependsOn": ["^build", "prebuild"]
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/package.json b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d5cdacd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  "name": "powered-by-nx"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/packages/package-1/package.json b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/packages/package-1/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9978bcb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/packages/package-1/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+  "name": "package-1",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "scripts": {
+    "fail": "exit 1",
+    "my-script": "echo package-1",
+    "another-script:but-with-colons": "echo package-1-script-with-colons"
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/packages/package-2/package.json b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/packages/package-2/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bcae5573
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/packages/package-2/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+  "name": "package-2",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "scripts": {
+    "fail": "exit 1"
+  },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "package-1": "^1.0.0"
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/packages/package-3/package.json b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/packages/package-3/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f12cd809
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/packages/package-3/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+  "name": "package-3",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "scripts": {
+    "my-script": "echo package-3"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "package-2": "^1.0.0"
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/packages/package-4/package.json b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/packages/package-4/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..46f5ecee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/run/src/__fixtures__/powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults/packages/package-4/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+  "name": "package-4",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "scripts": {
+    "my-cacheable-script": "echo cacheable"
+  },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "package-1": "^0.0.0"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/run/src/__tests__/run-command-with-nx-no-target-defaults.spec.ts b/packages/run/src/__tests__/run-command-with-nx-no-target-defaults.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..05970259
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/run/src/__tests__/run-command-with-nx-no-target-defaults.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+jest.mock('../lib/npm-run-script');
+
+jest.mock('@lerna-lite/core', () => ({
+  ...(jest.requireActual('@lerna-lite/core') as any), // return the other real methods, below we'll mock only 2 of the methods
+  logOutput: jest.requireActual('../../../core/src/__mocks__/output').logOutput,
+  runTopologically: jest.requireActual('../../../core/src/utils/run-topologically').runTopologically,
+  QueryGraph: jest.requireActual('../../../core/src/utils/query-graph').QueryGraph,
+}));
+
+// also point to the local run command so that all mocks are properly used even by the command-runner
+jest.mock('@lerna-lite/run', () => jest.requireActual('../run-command'));
+
+// mocked modules
+import { npmRunScript, npmRunScriptStreaming } from '../lib/npm-run-script';
+import cliRunCommands from '../../../cli/src/cli-commands/cli-run-commands';
+
+// helpers
+import { commandRunner, initFixtureFactory, loggingOutput, normalizeRelativeDir } from '@lerna-test/helpers';
+const lernaRun = commandRunner(cliRunCommands);
+const initFixture = initFixtureFactory(__dirname);
+
+describe('RunCommand', () => {
+  (npmRunScript as jest.Mock).mockImplementation((script, { pkg }) =>
+    Promise.resolve({ exitCode: 0, stdout: pkg.name })
+  );
+  (npmRunScriptStreaming as jest.Mock).mockImplementation(() => Promise.resolve({ exitCode: 0 }));
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    process.exitCode = undefined;
+  });
+
+  // this is a temporary set of tests, which will be replaced by verdacio-driven tests
+  // once the required setup is fully set up
+  describe('in a repo powered by Nx', () => {
+    let testDir;
+    let collectedOutput = '';
+    let originalStdout;
+
+    beforeAll(async () => {
+      testDir = await initFixture('powered-by-nx');
+      process.env.NX_WORKSPACE_ROOT_PATH = testDir;
+      // @ts-ignore
+      jest.spyOn(process, 'exit').mockImplementation((code: any) => {
+        if (code !== 0) {
+          throw new Error();
+        }
+      });
+      originalStdout = process.stdout.write;
+      (process.stdout as any).write = (v) => {
+        collectedOutput = `${collectedOutput}\n${v}`;
+      };
+    });
+
+    afterAll(() => {
+      process.stdout.write = originalStdout;
+    });
+
+    it('runs a script in packages', async () => {
+      collectedOutput = '';
+      await lernaRun(testDir)('my-script');
+
+      expect(collectedOutput).toContain('package-1');
+      expect(collectedOutput).toContain('package-3');
+      expect(collectedOutput).toContain('Successfully ran target');
+
+      const logMessages = loggingOutput('verbose');
+      expect(logMessages).toContain(
+        'nx.json was not found or is missing targetDefaults. Task dependencies will not be automatically included.'
+      );
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/run/src/__tests__/run-command.spec.ts b/packages/run/src/__tests__/run-command.spec.ts
index 252e5d6f..ccfe7c02 100644
--- a/packages/run/src/__tests__/run-command.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/run/src/__tests__/run-command.spec.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ jest.mock('@lerna-lite/run', () => jest.requireActual('../run-command'));
 
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import globby from 'globby';
-import { afterEach, afterAll } from 'jest-circus';
 import yargParser from 'yargs-parser';
 
 // make sure to import the output mock
@@ -361,7 +360,7 @@ describe('RunCommand', () => {
     let originalStdout;
 
     beforeAll(async () => {
-      testDir = await initFixture('powered-by-nx');
+      testDir = await initFixture('powered-by-nx-with-target-defaults');
       process.env.NX_WORKSPACE_ROOT_PATH = testDir;
       // @ts-ignore
       jest.spyOn(process, 'exit').mockImplementation((code: any) => {
@@ -410,7 +409,7 @@ describe('RunCommand', () => {
 
       const logMessages = loggingOutput('info');
       expect(logMessages).toContain(
-        'Using the "ignore" option when nx.json exists will exclude only tasks that are not determined to be required by Nx. See https://lerna.js.org/docs/recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks#--ignore for details.'
+        'Using the "ignore" option when nx.json has targetDefaults defined will exclude only tasks that are not determined to be required by Nx. See https://lerna.js.org/docs/recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks#--ignore for details.'
       );
     });
 
@@ -445,7 +444,7 @@ describe('RunCommand', () => {
 
       const [logMessage] = loggingOutput('warn');
       expect(logMessage).toContain(
-        '"parallel", "sort", and "no-sort" are ignored when nx.json exists. See https://lerna.js.org/docs/recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks for details.'
+        '"parallel", "sort", and "no-sort" are ignored when nx.json has targetDefaults defined. See https://lerna.js.org/docs/recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks for details.'
       );
       expect(collectedOutput).toContain('package-1');
     });
@@ -457,7 +456,7 @@ describe('RunCommand', () => {
 
       const logMessages = loggingOutput('info');
       expect(logMessages).toContain(
-        'Using the "include-dependencies" option when nx.json exists will include both task dependencies detected by Nx and project dependencies detected by Lerna. See https://lerna.js.org/docs/recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks#--include-dependencies for details.'
+        'Using the "include-dependencies" option when nx.json has targetDefaults defined will include both task dependencies detected by Nx and project dependencies detected by Lerna. See https://lerna.js.org/docs/recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks#--include-dependencies for details.'
       );
       expect(collectedOutput).toContain('package-1');
     });
diff --git a/packages/run/src/run-command.ts b/packages/run/src/run-command.ts
index 9bfa3581..3c1a58aa 100644
--- a/packages/run/src/run-command.ts
+++ b/packages/run/src/run-command.ts
@@ -252,17 +252,22 @@ export class RunCommand extends Command<RunCommandOption & FilterOptions> {
 
   async prepNxOptions() {
     const nxJsonExists = existsSync(path.join(this.project.rootPath, 'nx.json'));
+    const { readNxJson } = await import('nx/src/config/configuration');
+    const nxJson = readNxJson();
+    const targetDependenciesAreDefined =
+      Object.keys(nxJson.targetDependencies || nxJson.targetDefaults || {}).length > 0;
+    const mimicLernaDefaultBehavior = !(nxJsonExists && targetDependenciesAreDefined);
+
     const targetDependencies =
-      // prettier-ignore
-      this.toposort && !this.options.parallel && !nxJsonExists
+      this.toposort && !this.options.parallel && mimicLernaDefaultBehavior
         ? {
-          [this.script]: [
-            {
-              projects: 'dependencies',
-              target: this.script,
-            },
-          ],
-        }
+            [this.script]: [
+              {
+                projects: 'dependencies',
+                target: this.script,
+              },
+            ],
+          }
         : {};
 
     // prettier-ignore
@@ -278,7 +283,7 @@ export class RunCommand extends Command<RunCommandOption & FilterOptions> {
        * To match lerna's own behavior (via pMap's default concurrency), we set parallel to a very large number if
        * the flag has been set (we can't use Infinity because that would cause issues with the task runner).
        */
-      parallel: this.options.parallel && !nxJsonExists ? 999 : this.concurrency,
+      parallel: this.options.parallel && mimicLernaDefaultBehavior ? 999 : this.concurrency,
       nxBail: this.bail,
       nxIgnoreCycles: !this.options.rejectCycles,
       skipNxCache: this.options.skipNxCache,
@@ -286,33 +291,41 @@ export class RunCommand extends Command<RunCommandOption & FilterOptions> {
       __overrides__: this.args.map((t) => t.toString()),
     };
 
-    if (nxJsonExists) {
-      this.logger.verbose(this.name, 'nx.json was found. Task dependencies will be automatically included.');
+    if (!mimicLernaDefaultBehavior) {
+      this.logger.verbose(
+        this.name,
+        'nx.json with targetDefaults was found. Task dependencies will be automatically included.'
+      );
 
       if (this.options.parallel || this.options.sort !== undefined) {
         this.logger.warn(
           this.name,
-          `"parallel", "sort", and "no-sort" are ignored when nx.json exists. See https://lerna.js.org/docs/recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks for details.`
+          `"parallel", "sort", and "no-sort" are ignored when nx.json has targetDefaults defined. See https://lerna.js.org/docs/recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks for details.`
         );
       }
 
       if (this.options.includeDependencies) {
         this.logger.info(
           this.name,
-          `Using the "include-dependencies" option when nx.json exists will include both task dependencies detected by Nx and project dependencies detected by Lerna. See https://lerna.js.org/docs/recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks#--include-dependencies for details.`
+          `Using the "include-dependencies" option when nx.json has targetDefaults defined will include both task dependencies detected by Nx and project dependencies detected by Lerna. See https://lerna.js.org/docs/recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks#--include-dependencies for details.`
         );
       }
 
       if (this.options.ignore) {
         this.logger.info(
           this.name,
-          `Using the "ignore" option when nx.json exists will exclude only tasks that are not determined to be required by Nx. See https://lerna.js.org/docs/recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks#--ignore for details.`
+          `Using the "ignore" option when nx.json has targetDefaults defined will exclude only tasks that are not determined to be required by Nx. See https://lerna.js.org/docs/recipes/using-lerna-powered-by-nx-to-run-tasks#--ignore for details.`
         );
       }
+    } else {
+      this.logger.verbose(
+        this.name,
+        'nx.json was not found or is missing targetDefaults. Task dependencies will not be automatically included.'
+      );
     }
 
     const extraOptions = {
-      excludeTaskDependencies: !nxJsonExists,
+      excludeTaskDependencies: mimicLernaDefaultBehavior,
     };
 
     return { targetDependencies, options, extraOptions };