diff --git a/compiler/commands.nim b/compiler/commands.nim
index 58f6a651d57b7..d37e1c21d6cec 100644
--- a/compiler/commands.nim
+++ b/compiler/commands.nim
@@ -1090,6 +1090,8 @@ proc processArgument*(pass: TCmdLinePass; p: OptParser;
   else:
     if pass == passCmd1: config.commandArgs.add p.key
     if argsCount == 1:
+      if p.key.endsWith(".nims"):
+        incl(config.globalOptions, optWasNimscript)
       # support UNIX style filenames everywhere for portable build scripts:
       if config.projectName.len == 0:
         config.projectName = unixToNativePath(p.key)
diff --git a/compiler/main.nim b/compiler/main.nim
index e4ec4d72931a1..6a9b9985ec7b2 100644
--- a/compiler/main.nim
+++ b/compiler/main.nim
@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@ proc commandCheck(graph: ModuleGraph) =
   let conf = graph.config
   conf.setErrorMaxHighMaybe
   defineSymbol(conf.symbols, "nimcheck")
+  if optWasNimscript in conf.globalOptions:
+    defineSymbol(conf.symbols, "nimscript")
+    defineSymbol(conf.symbols, "nimconfig")
   semanticPasses(graph)  # use an empty backend for semantic checking only
   compileProject(graph)
 
@@ -363,7 +366,8 @@ proc mainCommand*(graph: ModuleGraph) =
       msgWriteln(conf, "-- end of list --", {msgStdout, msgSkipHook})
 
       for it in conf.searchPaths: msgWriteln(conf, it.string)
-  of cmdCheck: commandCheck(graph)
+  of cmdCheck:
+    commandCheck(graph)
   of cmdParse:
     wantMainModule(conf)
     discard parseFile(conf.projectMainIdx, cache, conf)
diff --git a/tests/newconfig/tconfigcheck.nims b/tests/newconfig/tconfigcheck.nims
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..2e12a0bda8700
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/newconfig/tconfigcheck.nims
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+discard """
+  cmd: "nim check $file"
+"""
+
+mode = ScriptMode.Verbose
+proc build() =
+  echo "building nim... "
+  exec "sleep 10"
+  echo getCurrentDir()
+
+echo "hello"