diff --git a/bin/cli.js b/bin/cli.js
index d8f14cd7..f9f8b149 100755
--- a/bin/cli.js
+++ b/bin/cli.js
@@ -111,13 +111,6 @@ if (program.tsConfig) {
 	config.tsConfig = program.tsConfig;
 }
 
-if (config.tsConfig) {
-	const ts = require('typescript');
-	const tsParsedConfig = ts.readJsonConfigFile(config.tsConfig, ts.sys.readFile);
-	const obj = ts.parseJsonSourceFileConfigFileContent(tsParsedConfig, ts.sys, path.dirname(config.tsConfig));
-	config.tsConfig = obj.raw;
-}
-
 if (program.includeNpm) {
 	config.includeNpm = program.includeNpm;
 }
diff --git a/lib/api.js b/lib/api.js
index 76a989ee..26773624 100644
--- a/lib/api.js
+++ b/lib/api.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 'use strict';
 
+const path_ = require('path');
 const tree = require('./tree');
 const cyclic = require('./cyclic');
 const graph = require('./graph');
@@ -46,6 +47,16 @@ class Madge {
 		}
 
 		this.config = Object.assign({}, defaultConfig, config);
+		if (typeof this.config.tsConfig === 'string') {
+			const ts = require('typescript');
+			const tsParsedConfig = ts.readJsonConfigFile(this.config.tsConfig, ts.sys.readFile);
+			const obj = ts.parseJsonSourceFileConfigFileContent(tsParsedConfig, ts.sys, path_.dirname(config.tsConfig));
+			this.config.tsConfig = {
+				...obj.raw,
+				compilerOptions: obj.options
+			};
+			log('using tsconfig %o', this.config.tsConfig);
+		}
 
 		if (typeof path === 'object' && !Array.isArray(path)) {
 			this.tree = path;
diff --git a/test/typescript.js b/test/typescript.js
index 0267472d..bce562fa 100644
--- a/test/typescript.js
+++ b/test/typescript.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 'use strict';
 
 const madge = require('../lib/api');
+const ts = require('typescript');
 require('should');
 
 describe('TypeScript', () => {
@@ -42,6 +43,22 @@ describe('TypeScript', () => {
 		}).catch(done);
 	});
 
+	it('got tsConfig as a string, "extends" field is interpreted', (done) => {
+		madge(dir + '/custom-paths/import.ts', {tsConfig: dir + '/with-config/tsconfig.json'}).then((res) => {
+			res.config.tsConfig.should.eql({
+				extends: './tsconfig.base.json',
+				compilerOptions: {
+					target: ts.ScriptTarget.ESNext,
+					module: ts.ModuleKind.CommonJS,
+					allowJs: true,
+					configFilePath: undefined
+				},
+				compileOnSave: undefined
+			});
+			done();
+		}).catch(done);
+	});
+
 	it('supports CJS modules when using mixedImports option', (done) => {
 		madge(dir + '/mixed.ts', {detectiveOptions: {ts: {mixedImports: true}}}).then((res) => {
 			res.obj().should.eql({
diff --git a/test/typescript/with-config/index.ts b/test/typescript/with-config/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/test/typescript/with-config/tsconfig.base.json b/test/typescript/with-config/tsconfig.base.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b41e8801
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/typescript/with-config/tsconfig.base.json
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+    "compilerOptions": {
+        "target": "ES5",
+        "module": "CommonJS"
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/typescript/with-config/tsconfig.json b/test/typescript/with-config/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..273803b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/typescript/with-config/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+    "extends": "./tsconfig.base.json",
+    "compilerOptions": {
+        "target": "ESNext",
+        "allowJs": true
+    }
+}