diff --git a/lib/rubocop/cop/internal_affairs/undefined_config.rb b/lib/rubocop/cop/internal_affairs/undefined_config.rb
index bb248c80c4bb1..2823ea206e9e0 100644
--- a/lib/rubocop/cop/internal_affairs/undefined_config.rb
+++ b/lib/rubocop/cop/internal_affairs/undefined_config.rb
@@ -5,12 +5,22 @@ module Cop
     module InternalAffairs
       # Looks for references to a cop configuration key that isn't defined in config/default.yml.
       class UndefinedConfig < Base
+        class << self
+          include FileFinder
+        end
+
         ALLOWED_CONFIGURATIONS = %w[
           Safe SafeAutoCorrect AutoCorrect Severity StyleGuide Details Reference Include Exclude
         ].freeze
         RESTRICT_ON_SEND = %i[[] fetch].freeze
         MSG = '`%<name>s` is not defined in the configuration for `%<cop>s` ' \
               'in `config/default.yml`.'
+        CONFIG_PATH = find_file_upwards('config/default.yml', Dir.pwd)
+        CONFIG = if File.exist?(CONFIG_PATH)
+                   ConfigLoader.load_yaml_configuration(CONFIG_PATH)
+                 else
+                   {}
+                 end
 
         # @!method cop_class_def(node)
         def_node_search :cop_class_def, <<~PATTERN
@@ -31,7 +41,7 @@ def on_new_investigation
           cop_class = cop_class_def(processed_source.ast).first
           return unless (@cop_class_name = extract_cop_name(cop_class))
 
-          @config_for_cop = RuboCop::ConfigLoader.default_configuration.for_cop(@cop_class_name)
+          @config_for_cop = CONFIG[@cop_class_name] || {}
         end
 
         def on_send(node)
diff --git a/spec/rubocop/cop/internal_affairs/undefined_config_spec.rb b/spec/rubocop/cop/internal_affairs/undefined_config_spec.rb
index 210b6a0a85a69..6caf43842e603 100644
--- a/spec/rubocop/cop/internal_affairs/undefined_config_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/rubocop/cop/internal_affairs/undefined_config_spec.rb
@@ -12,9 +12,8 @@
         Defined: true
     YAML
 
-    allow(RuboCop::ConfigLoader).to receive(:default_configuration).and_return(
-      RuboCop::ConfigLoader.load_file('config/default.yml', check: false)
-    )
+    stub_const('RuboCop::Cop::InternalAffairs::UndefinedConfig::CONFIG',
+               RuboCop::ConfigLoader.load_yaml_configuration('config/default.yml'))
   end
 
   it 'does not register an offense for implicit configuration keys' do