diff --git a/crates/volta-core/src/error/kind.rs b/crates/volta-core/src/error/kind.rs
index 6add88efa..b61acf7f5 100644
--- a/crates/volta-core/src/error/kind.rs
+++ b/crates/volta-core/src/error/kind.rs
@@ -530,6 +530,11 @@ pub enum ErrorKind {
     YarnVersionNotFound {
         matching: String,
     },
+
+    /// Thrown when reading a `.node_version` file fails.
+    NodeVersionSpecReadError {
+        file: PathBuf,
+    },
 }
 
 impl fmt::Display for ErrorKind {
diff --git a/crates/volta-core/src/project/mod.rs b/crates/volta-core/src/project/mod.rs
index 745739db0..956d06382 100644
--- a/crates/volta-core/src/project/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/volta-core/src/project/mod.rs
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ mod serial;
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests;
 
-use serial::{update_manifest, Manifest, ManifestKey};
+use serial::{update_manifest, Manifest, ManifestKey, NodeVersionSpec};
 
 /// A lazily loaded Project
 pub struct LazyProject {
@@ -66,16 +66,21 @@ impl Project {
     /// Will search ancestors to find a `package.json` and use that as the root of the project
     fn for_dir(base_dir: PathBuf) -> Fallible<Option<Self>> {
         match find_closest_root(base_dir) {
-            Some(mut project) => {
-                project.push("package.json");
-                Self::from_file(project).map(Some)
+            Some(mut root) => {
+                let node_version = NodeVersionSpec::from_file(&root.join(".node_version"))?;
+
+                root.push("package.json");
+                Self::from_manifest_file(root, node_version).map(Some)
             }
             None => Ok(None),
         }
     }
 
     /// Creates a Project instance from the given package manifest file (`package.json`)
-    fn from_file(manifest_file: PathBuf) -> Fallible<Self> {
+    fn from_manifest_file(
+        manifest_file: PathBuf,
+        node_version_spec: Option<NodeVersionSpec>, // TODO: merge with manifest?
+    ) -> Fallible<Self> {
         let manifest = Manifest::from_file(&manifest_file)?;
         let mut dependencies: ChainMap<String, String> = manifest.dependency_maps.collect();
         let mut workspace_manifests = IndexSet::new();
diff --git a/crates/volta-core/src/project/serial.rs b/crates/volta-core/src/project/serial.rs
index 398731796..78e6fe8a6 100644
--- a/crates/volta-core/src/project/serial.rs
+++ b/crates/volta-core/src/project/serial.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 use std::collections::HashMap;
-use std::fmt;
 use std::fs::{read_to_string, File};
 use std::io::Write;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use std::{fmt, io};
 
 use super::PartialPlatform;
-use crate::error::{Context, ErrorKind, Fallible};
+use crate::error::{Context, ErrorKind, Fallible, VoltaError};
 use crate::version::parse_version;
 use dunce::canonicalize;
 use node_semver::Version;
@@ -138,6 +138,11 @@ pub(super) fn update_manifest(
     Ok(())
 }
 
+/// Representation of a `package.json` file as it appears on disk.
+///
+/// This may or may not have literally *any* of the keys we care about. It is
+/// only used for reading the `package.json` from disk, never for further
+/// manipulation. See `Manifest` for the version we work with directly.
 #[derive(Deserialize)]
 struct RawManifest {
     dependencies: Option<HashMap<String, String>>,
@@ -192,3 +197,23 @@ impl ToolchainSpec {
         Ok((platform, self.extends))
     }
 }
+
+/// A Node version specifier in a `.node_version` file. Per the spec, we only
+/// support versions with an optional leading `v` and then a full, i.e. at least
+/// three-place, version (`1.2.3`, not `1` or `1.2`).
+#[cfg_attr(test, derive(Debug))]
+pub(super) struct NodeVersionSpec(Version);
+
+impl NodeVersionSpec {
+    pub(super) fn from_file(path: &Path) -> Fallible<Option<NodeVersionSpec>> {
+        match read_to_string(path) {
+            Ok(s) => parse_version(s).map(NodeVersionSpec).map(Some),
+            Err(e) => match e.kind() {
+                io::ErrorKind::NotFound => Ok(None),
+                _ => Err(e).with_context(|| ErrorKind::NodeVersionSpecReadError {
+                    file: path.to_owned(),
+                }),
+            },
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/volta-core/src/tool/node/mod.rs b/crates/volta-core/src/tool/node/mod.rs
index c9788be59..3eff65ade 100644
--- a/crates/volta-core/src/tool/node/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/volta-core/src/tool/node/mod.rs
@@ -255,7 +255,10 @@ impl Tool for Node {
         if session.project()?.is_some() {
             let node_version = self.ensure_fetched(session)?;
 
-            // Note: We know this will succeed, since we checked above
+            // Note: We know this will succeed, since we checked above. We don't
+            // just use `if let Some(project) = session.project_mut()` because
+            // that results in an attempt to borrow session twice when we call
+            // `ensure_fetched` above.
             let project = session.project_mut()?.unwrap();
             project.pin_node(self.version.clone())?;