diff --git a/AUTHORS.rst b/AUTHORS.rst
index 2ad80a00..aa5338a8 100644
--- a/AUTHORS.rst
+++ b/AUTHORS.rst
@@ -57,3 +57,4 @@ Authors
 * Colin O'Dell - https://github.com/colinodell
 * Ronny Pfannschmidt - https://github.com/RonnyPfannschmidt
 * Christian Fetzer - https://github.com/fetzerch
+* Ofek Lev - https://ofek.dev
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index c49683f5..d2250280 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+4.0.1 (2022-10-26)
+------------------
+
+* Remove forced config file default of ``.coveragerc``
+  Contributed by Ofek Lev in
+  `#508 <https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest-cov/pull/508>`_.
 
 4.0.0 (2022-09-28)
 ------------------
@@ -33,7 +39,6 @@ Changelog
   Contributed by Bruno Oliveira in `#549 <https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest-cov/pull/549>`_
   and Ronny Pfannschmidt in `#550 <https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest-cov/pull/550>`_.
 
-
 3.0.0 (2021-10-04)
 -------------------
 
diff --git a/src/pytest_cov/embed.py b/src/pytest_cov/embed.py
index f8a2749f..70bdd8e1 100644
--- a/src/pytest_cov/embed.py
+++ b/src/pytest_cov/embed.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def init():
             cov_source = None
         else:
             cov_source = cov_source.split(os.pathsep)
-        if cov_config == os.pathsep:
+        if cov_config != '':
             cov_config = True
 
         # Activate coverage for this process.
diff --git a/src/pytest_cov/engine.py b/src/pytest_cov/engine.py
index bfede8c7..b9ea252c 100644
--- a/src/pytest_cov/engine.py
+++ b/src/pytest_cov/engine.py
@@ -70,6 +70,10 @@ def __init__(self, cov_source, cov_report, cov_config, cov_append, cov_branch, c
         self.topdir = os.getcwd()
         self.is_collocated = None
 
+        # If unset (the default), indicate fallback behavior for other files like pyproject.toml.
+        # See https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/blob/6.2/coverage/control.py#L144-L146
+        self.config_file = self.cov_config or True
+
     @contextlib.contextmanager
     def ensure_topdir(self):
         original_cwd = os.getcwd()
@@ -98,7 +102,7 @@ def set_env(self):
         if os.path.exists(config_file):
             os.environ['COV_CORE_CONFIG'] = config_file
         else:
-            os.environ['COV_CORE_CONFIG'] = os.pathsep
+            os.environ['COV_CORE_CONFIG'] = ''
         os.environ['COV_CORE_DATAFILE'] = os.path.abspath(self.cov.config.data_file)
         if self.cov_branch:
             os.environ['COV_CORE_BRANCH'] = 'enabled'
@@ -221,12 +225,12 @@ def start(self):
         self.cov = coverage.Coverage(source=self.cov_source,
                                      branch=self.cov_branch,
                                      data_suffix=True,
-                                     config_file=self.cov_config)
+                                     config_file=self.config_file)
         self.combining_cov = coverage.Coverage(source=self.cov_source,
                                                branch=self.cov_branch,
                                                data_suffix=True,
                                                data_file=os.path.abspath(self.cov.config.data_file),
-                                               config_file=self.cov_config)
+                                               config_file=self.config_file)
 
         # Erase or load any previous coverage data and start coverage.
         if not self.cov_append:
@@ -265,7 +269,7 @@ def start(self):
         self.cov = coverage.Coverage(source=self.cov_source,
                                      branch=self.cov_branch,
                                      data_suffix=True,
-                                     config_file=self.cov_config)
+                                     config_file=self.config_file)
         self.cov._warn_no_data = False
         self.cov._warn_unimported_source = False
         self.cov._warn_preimported_source = False
@@ -273,7 +277,7 @@ def start(self):
                                                branch=self.cov_branch,
                                                data_suffix=True,
                                                data_file=os.path.abspath(self.cov.config.data_file),
-                                               config_file=self.cov_config)
+                                               config_file=self.config_file)
         if not self.cov_append:
             self.cov.erase()
         self.cov.start()
@@ -310,7 +314,7 @@ def testnodedown(self, node, error):
             cov = coverage.Coverage(source=self.cov_source,
                                     branch=self.cov_branch,
                                     data_suffix=data_suffix,
-                                    config_file=self.cov_config)
+                                    config_file=self.config_file)
             cov.start()
             if coverage.version_info < (5, 0):
                 data = CoverageData()
@@ -368,7 +372,7 @@ def start(self):
         self.cov = coverage.Coverage(source=self.cov_source,
                                      branch=self.cov_branch,
                                      data_suffix=True,
-                                     config_file=self.cov_config)
+                                     config_file=self.config_file)
         self.cov.start()
         self.set_env()
 
diff --git a/src/pytest_cov/plugin.py b/src/pytest_cov/plugin.py
index dd7b8c4e..b49eb7f4 100644
--- a/src/pytest_cov/plugin.py
+++ b/src/pytest_cov/plugin.py
@@ -104,9 +104,9 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser):
                          'annotate, html, xml and lcov may be followed by ":DEST" '
                          'where DEST specifies the output location. '
                          'Use --cov-report= to not generate any output.')
-    group.addoption('--cov-config', action='store', default='.coveragerc',
+    group.addoption('--cov-config', action='store', default='',
                     metavar='PATH',
-                    help='Config file for coverage. Default: .coveragerc')
+                    help='Config file for coverage.')
     group.addoption('--no-cov-on-fail', action='store_true', default=False,
                     help='Do not report coverage if test run fails. '
                          'Default: False')