diff --git a/docs/generated/devkit/parseTargetString.md b/docs/generated/devkit/parseTargetString.md
index de6b54560d7d8..aaf04f01fab72 100644
--- a/docs/generated/devkit/parseTargetString.md
+++ b/docs/generated/devkit/parseTargetString.md
@@ -35,3 +35,27 @@ parseTargetString('proj:test:production', graph); // returns { project: "proj",
 #### Returns
 
 [`Target`](../../devkit/documents/Target)
+
+▸ **parseTargetString**(`targetString`, `ctx`): [`Target`](../../devkit/documents/Target)
+
+Parses a target string into {project, target, configuration}. Passing a full
+[ExecutorContext](../../devkit/documents/ExecutorContext) enables the targetString to reference the current project.
+
+Examples:
+
+```typescript
+parseTargetString('test', executorContext); // returns { project: "proj", target: "test" }
+parseTargetString('proj:test', executorContext); // returns { project: "proj", target: "test" }
+parseTargetString('proj:test:production', executorContext); // returns { project: "proj", target: "test", configuration: "production" }
+```
+
+#### Parameters
+
+| Name           | Type                                                        |
+| :------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `targetString` | `string`                                                    |
+| `ctx`          | [`ExecutorContext`](../../devkit/documents/ExecutorContext) |
+
+#### Returns
+
+[`Target`](../../devkit/documents/Target)
diff --git a/packages/devkit/src/executors/parse-target-string.spec.ts b/packages/devkit/src/executors/parse-target-string.spec.ts
index 9629db9469380..3ce6fd0b48182 100644
--- a/packages/devkit/src/executors/parse-target-string.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/devkit/src/executors/parse-target-string.spec.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { parseTargetString, targetToTargetString } from './parse-target-string';
 
 import * as splitTarget from 'nx/src/utils/split-target';
+import { ExecutorContext } from 'nx/src/devkit-exports';
 
 const cases = [
   { input: 'one:two', expected: { project: 'one', target: 'two' } },
@@ -15,12 +16,52 @@ const cases = [
 ];
 
 describe('parseTargetString', () => {
+  const mockContext: ExecutorContext = {
+    projectName: 'my-project',
+    cwd: '/virtual',
+    root: '/virtual',
+    isVerbose: false,
+    projectGraph: {
+      nodes: {
+        'my-project': {
+          type: 'lib',
+          name: 'my-project',
+          data: { root: '/packages/my-project' },
+        },
+        'other-project': {
+          type: 'lib',
+          name: 'other-project',
+          data: { root: '/packages/other-project' },
+        },
+      },
+      dependencies: {},
+      externalNodes: {},
+      version: '',
+    },
+  };
+
   it.each(cases)('$input -> $expected', ({ input, expected }) => {
     jest
       .spyOn(splitTarget, 'splitTarget')
       .mockReturnValueOnce(Object.values(expected) as [string]);
     expect(parseTargetString(input, null)).toEqual(expected);
   });
+
+  it('should support reading project from ExecutorContext', () => {
+    expect(parseTargetString('build', mockContext)).toEqual({
+      project: 'my-project',
+      target: 'build',
+    });
+    expect(parseTargetString('build:production', mockContext)).toEqual({
+      project: 'my-project',
+      target: 'build',
+      configuration: 'production',
+    });
+    expect(parseTargetString('other-project:build', mockContext)).toEqual({
+      project: 'other-project',
+      target: 'build',
+    });
+  });
 });
 
 describe('targetToTargetString', () => {
diff --git a/packages/devkit/src/executors/parse-target-string.ts b/packages/devkit/src/executors/parse-target-string.ts
index d7b0c12689741..44c0955dd7790 100644
--- a/packages/devkit/src/executors/parse-target-string.ts
+++ b/packages/devkit/src/executors/parse-target-string.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 import type { Target } from 'nx/src/command-line/run/run';
 import type { ProjectGraph } from 'nx/src/config/project-graph';
+import type { ExecutorContext } from 'nx/src/devkit-exports';
+
 import { requireNx } from '../../nx';
 
-let { readCachedProjectGraph, splitTarget } = requireNx();
+let { readCachedProjectGraph, splitTarget, splitByColons } = requireNx();
 
 // TODO: Remove this in Nx 18 when Nx 16.7.0 is no longer supported
 splitTarget = splitTarget ?? require('nx/src/utils/split-target').splitTarget;
+splitByColons =
+  splitByColons ?? ((s: string) => s.split(':') as [string, ...string[]]);
 
 /**
  * @deprecated(v17) A project graph should be passed to parseTargetString for best accuracy.
@@ -26,10 +30,30 @@ export function parseTargetString(
   targetString: string,
   projectGraph: ProjectGraph
 ): Target;
+/**
+ * Parses a target string into {project, target, configuration}. Passing a full
+ * {@link ExecutorContext} enables the targetString to reference the current project.
+ *
+ * Examples:
+ * ```typescript
+ * parseTargetString("test", executorContext) // returns { project: "proj", target: "test" }
+ * parseTargetString("proj:test", executorContext) // returns { project: "proj", target: "test" }
+ * parseTargetString("proj:test:production", executorContext) // returns { project: "proj", target: "test", configuration: "production" }
+ * ```
+ */
 export function parseTargetString(
   targetString: string,
-  projectGraph?: ProjectGraph
+  ctx: ExecutorContext
+): Target;
+export function parseTargetString(
+  targetString: string,
+  projectGraphOrCtx?: ProjectGraph | ExecutorContext
 ): Target {
+  let projectGraph =
+    projectGraphOrCtx && 'projectGraph' in projectGraphOrCtx
+      ? projectGraphOrCtx.projectGraph
+      : (projectGraphOrCtx as ProjectGraph);
+
   if (!projectGraph) {
     try {
       projectGraph = readCachedProjectGraph();
@@ -37,10 +61,21 @@ export function parseTargetString(
       projectGraph = { nodes: {} } as any;
     }
   }
+
+  const [maybeProject] = splitByColons(targetString);
+  if (
+    !projectGraph.nodes[maybeProject] &&
+    projectGraphOrCtx &&
+    'projectName' in projectGraphOrCtx
+  ) {
+    targetString = `${projectGraphOrCtx.projectName}:${targetString}`;
+  }
+
   const [project, target, configuration] = splitTarget(
     targetString,
     projectGraph
   );
+
   if (!project || !target) {
     throw new Error(`Invalid Target String: ${targetString}`);
   }
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/devkit-internals.ts b/packages/nx/src/devkit-internals.ts
index acba9b54c7397..cd12d71e36086 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/devkit-internals.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/devkit-internals.ts
@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@ export { combineOptionsForExecutor } from './utils/params';
 export { sortObjectByKeys } from './utils/object-sort';
 export { stripIndent } from './utils/logger';
 export { readModulePackageJson } from './utils/package-json';
+export { splitByColons } from './utils/split-target';