diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index adccd7b825a13..927fa4ea5fb81 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ Command-line option changes
   difference between defining a `main` function and executing the code directly at the end of the script ([#50974]).
 * The `--compiled-modules` and `--pkgimages` flags can now be set to `existing`, which will
   cause Julia to consider loading existing cache files, but not to create new ones ([#50586], [#52573]).
+* The `--project` argument now accepts `@script` to give a path to a directory with a Project.toml relative to the passed script file. `--project=@script/foo` for the `foo` subdirectory. If no path is given after (i.e. `--project=@script`) then (like `--project=@.`) the directory and its parents are searched for a Project.toml ([#50864] and [#53352])
 
 Multi-threading changes
 -----------------------
diff --git a/base/initdefs.jl b/base/initdefs.jl
index 56c2c0c587272..96bdc7957bcca 100644
--- a/base/initdefs.jl
+++ b/base/initdefs.jl
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ function load_path_expand(env::AbstractString)::Union{String, Nothing}
         env == "@" && return active_project(false)
         env == "@." && return current_project()
         env == "@stdlib" && return Sys.STDLIB
-        if startswith(env, "@scriptdir")
+        if startswith(env, "@script")
             if @isdefined(PROGRAM_FILE)
                 dir = dirname(PROGRAM_FILE)
             else
@@ -283,7 +283,12 @@ function load_path_expand(env::AbstractString)::Union{String, Nothing}
                 end
                 dir = dirname(ARGS[1])
             end
-            return abspath(replace(env, "@scriptdir" => dir))
+            if env == "@script"  # complete match, not startswith, so search upwards
+                return current_project(dir)
+            else
+                # starts with, so assume relative path is after
+                return abspath(replace(env, "@script" => dir))
+            end
         end
         env = replace(env, '#' => VERSION.major, count=1)
         env = replace(env, '#' => VERSION.minor, count=1)