diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index d303fbfe1..b904fe80b 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@
     "license": "MIT",
     "require": {
         "php": ">=7.0",
-        "composer-plugin-api": "~1.0",
-        "composer/composer": "^1.0",
+        "composer-plugin-api": "^1.0",
         "doctrine/collections": "~1.2",
         "gitonomy/gitlib": "^1.0.3",
         "monolog/monolog": "~1.16",
@@ -22,6 +21,7 @@
         "symfony/yaml": "~3.0|~4.0"
     },
     "require-dev": {
+        "composer/composer": "^1.0",
         "friendsofphp/php-cs-fixer": "~2",
         "jakub-onderka/php-parallel-lint": "^0.9.2",
         "nikic/php-parser": "~2.1",
diff --git a/spec/Console/Helper/ComposerHelperSpec.php b/spec/Console/Helper/ComposerHelperSpec.php
index 1c643a9ad..3c145d429 100644
--- a/spec/Console/Helper/ComposerHelperSpec.php
+++ b/spec/Console/Helper/ComposerHelperSpec.php
@@ -3,16 +3,16 @@
 namespace spec\GrumPHP\Console\Helper;
 
 use Composer\Config;
-use Composer\Package\RootPackage;
 use GrumPHP\Console\Helper\ComposerHelper;
+use GrumPHP\Util\ComposerFile;
 use PhpSpec\ObjectBehavior;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Helper\Helper;
 
 class ComposerHelperSpec extends ObjectBehavior
 {
-    function let(Config $config, RootPackage $rootPackage)
+    function let(ComposerFile $composerFile)
     {
-        $this->beConstructedWith($config, $rootPackage);
+        $this->beConstructedWith($composerFile);
     }
 
     function it_is_initializable()
@@ -25,23 +25,13 @@ function it_is_a_console_helper()
         $this->shouldHaveType(Helper::class);
     }
 
-    function it_knows_if_the_composer_configuration_is_available()
+    function it_has_a_composer_file(ComposerFile $composerFile)
     {
-        $this->hasConfiguration()->shouldBe(true);
+        $this->getComposerFile()->shouldBe($composerFile);
     }
 
-    function it_has_composer_configuration(Config $config)
+    function it_has_a_name()
     {
-        $this->getConfiguration()->shouldBe($config);
-    }
-
-    function it_knows_if_the_composer_root_package_is_available()
-    {
-        $this->hasRootPackage()->shouldBe(true);
-    }
-
-    function it_has_composer_root_package(RootPackage $rootPackage)
-    {
-        $this->getRootPackage()->shouldBe($rootPackage);
+        $this->getName()->shouldBe(ComposerHelper::HELPER_NAME);
     }
 }
diff --git a/spec/Locator/ConfigurationFileSpec.php b/spec/Locator/ConfigurationFileSpec.php
index 8ddfa5d3c..1f64221f9 100644
--- a/spec/Locator/ConfigurationFileSpec.php
+++ b/spec/Locator/ConfigurationFileSpec.php
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 
 namespace spec\GrumPHP\Locator;
 
-use Composer\Package\PackageInterface;
 use GrumPHP\Locator\ConfigurationFile;
+use GrumPHP\Util\ComposerFile;
 use GrumPHP\Util\Filesystem;
 use PhpSpec\ObjectBehavior;
 use Prophecy\Argument;
@@ -20,77 +20,65 @@ function it_is_initializable()
         $this->shouldHaveType(ConfigurationFile::class);
     }
 
-    function it_should_locate_config_file(Filesystem $filesystem)
+    function it_should_locate_config_file(Filesystem $filesystem, ComposerFile $composerFile)
     {
         $filesystem->exists($this->pathArgument('/composer/grumphp.yml'))->willReturn(true);
         $filesystem->isAbsolutePath($this->pathArgument('/composer/grumphp.yml'))->willReturn(true);
 
-        $this->locate('/composer', null)->shouldMatch($this->pathRegex('/composer/grumphp.yml'));
+        $this->locate('/composer', $composerFile)->shouldMatch($this->pathRegex('/composer/grumphp.yml'));
     }
 
-    function it_should_fall_back_on_dist_file(Filesystem $filesystem)
+    function it_should_fall_back_on_dist_file(Filesystem $filesystem, ComposerFile $composerFile)
     {
         $filesystem->exists($this->pathArgument('/composer/grumphp.yml'))->willReturn(false);
         $filesystem->exists($this->pathArgument('/composer/grumphp.yml.dist'))->willReturn(true);
         $filesystem->isAbsolutePath($this->pathArgument('/composer/grumphp.yml.dist'))->willReturn(true);
 
-        $this->locate('/composer', null)->shouldMatch($this->pathRegex('/composer/grumphp.yml.dist'));
+        $this->locate('/composer', $composerFile)->shouldMatch($this->pathRegex('/composer/grumphp.yml.dist'));
     }
 
-    function it_should_use_the_config_file_configured_in_the_composer_file(Filesystem $filesystem, PackageInterface $package)
+    function it_should_use_the_config_default_path_configured_in_the_composer_file(Filesystem $filesystem, ComposerFile $composerFile)
     {
-        $package->getExtra()->willReturn([
-            'grumphp' => [
-                'config-default-path' => '/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml'
-            ]
-        ]);
+        $composerFile->getConfigDefaultPath()->willReturn('/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml');
 
         $filesystem->exists($this->pathArgument('/composer/grumphp.yml'))->willReturn(true);
         $filesystem->exists('/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml')->willReturn(true);
         $filesystem->isAbsolutePath('/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml')->willReturn(true);
 
-        $this->locate('/composer', $package)->shouldBe('/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml');
+        $this->locate('/composer', $composerFile)->shouldBe('/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml');
     }
 
-    function it_should_use_the_config_file_configured_in_the_composer_file_and_fall_back_on_dist(Filesystem $filesystem, PackageInterface $package)
+    function it_should_use_the_config_file_configured_in_the_composer_file_and_fall_back_on_dist(Filesystem $filesystem, ComposerFile $composerFile)
     {
-        $package->getExtra()->willReturn([
-            'grumphp' => [
-                'config-default-path' => '/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml'
-            ]
-        ]);
+        $composerFile->getConfigDefaultPath()->willReturn('/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml');
 
         $filesystem->exists($this->pathArgument('/composer/grumphp.yml'))->willReturn(true);
         $filesystem->exists('/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml')->willReturn(false);
         $filesystem->exists('/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml.dist')->willReturn(true);
         $filesystem->isAbsolutePath('/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml.dist')->willReturn(true);
 
-        $this->locate('/composer', $package)->shouldBe('/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml.dist');
+        $this->locate('/composer', $composerFile)->shouldBe('/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml.dist');
     }
 
-    function it_should_always_return_absolute_paths(Filesystem $filesystem, PackageInterface $package)
+    function it_should_always_return_absolute_paths(Filesystem $filesystem, ComposerFile $composerFile)
     {
-        $package->getExtra()->willReturn([
-            'grumphp' => [
-                'config-default-path' => 'exotic/path/grumphp.yml'
-            ]
-        ]);
+        $composerFile->getConfigDefaultPath()->willReturn('exotic/path/grumphp.yml');
 
         $filesystem->exists($this->pathArgument('/composer/grumphp.yml'))->willReturn(true);
         $filesystem->exists($this->pathArgument('exotic/path/grumphp.yml'))->willReturn(true);
         $filesystem->isAbsolutePath($this->pathArgument('exotic/path/grumphp.yml'))->willReturn(false);
 
-        $this->locate('/composer', $package)->shouldMatch($this->pathRegex('/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml'));
+        $this->locate('/composer', $composerFile)->shouldMatch($this->pathRegex('/composer/exotic/path/grumphp.yml'));
     }
 
-    function it_should_locate_config_file_on_empty_composer_configuration(Filesystem $filesystem, PackageInterface $package)
+    function it_should_locate_config_file_on_empty_composer_configuration(Filesystem $filesystem, ComposerFile $composerFile)
     {
-        $package->getExtra()->willReturn([]);
+        $composerFile->getConfigDefaultPath()->willReturn(null);
 
         $filesystem->exists($this->pathArgument('/composer/grumphp.yml'))->willReturn(true);
         $filesystem->isAbsolutePath($this->pathArgument('/composer/grumphp.yml'))->willReturn(true);
 
-        $this->locate('/composer', $package)->shouldMatch($this->pathRegex('/composer/grumphp.yml'));
+        $this->locate('/composer', $composerFile)->shouldMatch($this->pathRegex('/composer/grumphp.yml'));
     }
 
     private function pathRegex($expected)
diff --git a/src/Console/Application.php b/src/Console/Application.php
index 338c72e5a..291a5f520 100644
--- a/src/Console/Application.php
+++ b/src/Console/Application.php
@@ -5,10 +5,9 @@
 namespace GrumPHP\Console;
 
 use GrumPHP\Configuration\ContainerFactory;
-use GrumPHP\Exception\RuntimeException;
 use GrumPHP\IO\ConsoleIO;
 use GrumPHP\Locator\ConfigurationFile;
-use GrumPHP\Util\Composer;
+use GrumPHP\Util\ComposerFile;
 use GrumPHP\Util\Filesystem;
 use Monolog\Handler\StreamHandler;
 use Monolog\Logger;
@@ -171,7 +170,7 @@ protected function getDefaultConfigPath(): string
         $locator = new ConfigurationFile($this->filesystem);
         $this->configDefaultPath = $locator->locate(
             getcwd(),
-            $this->initializeComposerHelper()->getRootPackage()
+            $this->initializeComposerHelper()->getComposerFile()
         );
 
         return $this->configDefaultPath;
@@ -183,17 +182,10 @@ protected function initializeComposerHelper(): Helper\ComposerHelper
             return $this->composerHelper;
         }
 
-        try {
-            $composerFile = getcwd().DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'composer.json';
-            $configuration = Composer::loadConfiguration();
-            Composer::ensureProjectBinDirInSystemPath($configuration->get('bin-dir'));
-            $rootPackage = Composer::loadRootPackageFromJson($composerFile, $configuration);
-        } catch (RuntimeException $e) {
-            $configuration = null;
-            $rootPackage = null;
-        }
+        $composerFileLocation = getcwd().DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'composer.json';
+        $composerFile = ComposerFile::createFrom($composerFileLocation);
 
-        return $this->composerHelper = new Helper\ComposerHelper($configuration, $rootPackage);
+        return $this->composerHelper = new Helper\ComposerHelper($composerFile);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/Console/Command/ConfigureCommand.php b/src/Console/Command/ConfigureCommand.php
index aa188c9c6..ec271a510 100644
--- a/src/Console/Command/ConfigureCommand.php
+++ b/src/Console/Command/ConfigureCommand.php
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 
 namespace GrumPHP\Console\Command;
 
-use Composer\Config;
 use Exception;
 use Gitonomy\Git\Repository;
 use GrumPHP\Configuration\GrumPHP;
@@ -183,22 +182,9 @@ protected function writeConfiguration(array $configuration): bool
         return false;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Make a guess to the bin dir.
-     */
     protected function guessBinDir(): string
     {
-        $defaultBinDir = $this->config->getBinDir();
-        if (!$this->composer()->hasConfiguration()) {
-            return $defaultBinDir;
-        }
-
-        $config = $this->composer()->getConfiguration();
-        if (!$config->has('bin-dir')) {
-            return $defaultBinDir;
-        }
-
-        return $config->get('bin-dir', Config::RELATIVE_PATHS);
+        return $this->composer()->getComposerFile()->getBinDir();
     }
 
     protected function guessGitDir(): string
@@ -213,7 +199,7 @@ protected function guessGitDir(): string
         return rtrim($this->paths()->getRelativePath($topLevel), '/');
     }
 
-    public function pathValidator($path): bool
+    public function pathValidator(string $path): string
     {
         if (!$this->filesystem->exists($path)) {
             throw new RuntimeException(sprintf('The path %s could not be found!', $path));
diff --git a/src/Console/Helper/ComposerHelper.php b/src/Console/Helper/ComposerHelper.php
index d839dee3e..ca6e0d948 100644
--- a/src/Console/Helper/ComposerHelper.php
+++ b/src/Console/Helper/ComposerHelper.php
@@ -4,71 +4,26 @@
 
 namespace GrumPHP\Console\Helper;
 
-use Composer\Config;
-use Composer\Package\RootPackageInterface;
+use GrumPHP\Util\ComposerFile;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Helper\Helper;
 
-/**
- * This class will make the composer configurationa available for the commands.
- *
- * Class ComposerHelper
- */
 class ComposerHelper extends Helper
 {
     const HELPER_NAME = 'composer';
 
-    /**
-     * @var RootPackageInterface
-     */
-    private $rootPackage;
+    private $composerFile;
 
-    /**
-     * @var Config
-     */
-    private $configuration;
-
-    /**
-     * ComposerHelper constructor.
-     *
-     * @param Config|null               $configuration
-     * @param RootPackageInterface|null $rootPackage
-     */
-    public function __construct(Config $configuration = null, RootPackageInterface $rootPackage = null)
-    {
-        $this->rootPackage = $rootPackage;
-        $this->configuration = $configuration;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * @return RootPackageInterface|null
-     */
-    public function getRootPackage()
-    {
-        return $this->rootPackage;
-    }
-
-    public function hasRootPackage(): bool
-    {
-        return null !== $this->rootPackage;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * @return Config|null
-     */
-    public function getConfiguration()
+    public function __construct(ComposerFile $composerFile)
     {
-        return $this->configuration;
+        $this->composerFile = $composerFile;
     }
 
-    public function hasConfiguration(): bool
+    public function getComposerFile(): ComposerFile
     {
-        return null !== $this->configuration;
+        return $this->composerFile;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * {@inheritdoc}
-     */
-    public function getName()
+    public function getName(): string
     {
         return self::HELPER_NAME;
     }
diff --git a/src/Locator/ConfigurationFile.php b/src/Locator/ConfigurationFile.php
index 2cc81dd88..5d4d72bdd 100644
--- a/src/Locator/ConfigurationFile.php
+++ b/src/Locator/ConfigurationFile.php
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 namespace GrumPHP\Locator;
 
-use Composer\Package\PackageInterface;
+use GrumPHP\Util\ComposerFile;
 use GrumPHP\Util\Filesystem;
 
 class ConfigurationFile
@@ -16,25 +16,16 @@ class ConfigurationFile
      */
     private $filesystem;
 
-    /**
-     * ConfigurationFile constructor.
-     */
     public function __construct(Filesystem $filesystem)
     {
         $this->filesystem = $filesystem;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * @param PackageInterface|null $package
-     */
-    public function locate(string $workingDir, PackageInterface $package = null): string
+    public function locate(string $workingDir, ComposerFile $composerFile): string
     {
         $defaultPath = $workingDir.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.self::APP_CONFIG_FILE;
         $defaultPath = $this->locateConfigFileWithDistSupport($defaultPath);
-
-        if (null !== $package) {
-            $defaultPath = $this->useConfigPathFromComposer($package, $defaultPath);
-        }
+        $defaultPath = $this->useConfigPathFromComposer($composerFile, $defaultPath);
 
         // Make sure to set the full path when it is declared relative
         // This will fix some issues in windows.
@@ -45,16 +36,12 @@ public function locate(string $workingDir, PackageInterface $package = null): st
         return $defaultPath;
     }
 
-    private function useConfigPathFromComposer(PackageInterface $package, string $defaultPath): string
+    private function useConfigPathFromComposer(ComposerFile $composerFile, string $defaultPath): string
     {
-        $extra = $package->getExtra();
-        if (!isset($extra['grumphp']['config-default-path'])) {
-            return $defaultPath;
-        }
-
-        $composerDefaultPath = $extra['grumphp']['config-default-path'];
-
-        return $this->locateConfigFileWithDistSupport($composerDefaultPath);
+        $composerDefaultPath = $composerFile->getConfigDefaultPath();
+        return null === $composerDefaultPath
+            ? $this->locateConfigFileWithDistSupport($defaultPath)
+            : $this->locateConfigFileWithDistSupport($composerDefaultPath);
     }
 
     private function locateConfigFileWithDistSupport(string $defaultPath): string
diff --git a/src/Util/Composer.php b/src/Util/Composer.php
deleted file mode 100644
index e0a1a1712..000000000
--- a/src/Util/Composer.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,80 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-declare(strict_types=1);
-
-namespace GrumPHP\Util;
-
-use Composer\Config;
-use Composer\Factory;
-use Composer\IO\NullIO;
-use Composer\Json\JsonFile;
-use Composer\Package\Loader\RootPackageLoader;
-use Composer\Package\Loader\JsonLoader;
-use Composer\Package\RootPackageInterface;
-use Composer\Repository\RepositoryFactory;
-use Exception;
-use GrumPHP\Exception\RuntimeException;
-
-class Composer
-{
-    /**
-     * @param string|JsonFile $json
-     */
-    public static function loadRootPackageFromJson($json, Config $config = null): RootPackageInterface
-    {
-        try {
-            $config = (null !== $config) ? $config : self::loadConfiguration();
-            $loader = new JsonLoader(new RootPackageLoader(
-                RepositoryFactory::manager(new NullIO(), $config),
-                $config
-            ));
-            $package = $loader->load($json);
-        } catch (Exception $e) {
-            throw RuntimeException::fromAnyException($e);
-        }
-
-        return $package;
-    }
-
-    public static function loadConfiguration(): Config
-    {
-        try {
-            $configuration = Factory::createConfig();
-        } catch (Exception $e) {
-            throw RuntimeException::fromAnyException($e);
-        }
-
-        return $configuration;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Composer contains some logic to prepend the current bin dir to the system PATH.
-     * To make sure this application works the same in CLI and Composer modus,
-     * we'll have to ensure that the bin path is always prefixed.
-     *
-     * @see https://github.com/composer/composer/blob/1.1/src/Composer/EventDispatcher/EventDispatcher.php#L147-L160
-     */
-    public static function ensureProjectBinDirInSystemPath(string $binDir)
-    {
-        $pathStr = 'PATH';
-        if (!isset($_SERVER[$pathStr]) && isset($_SERVER['Path'])) {
-            $pathStr = 'Path';
-        }
-
-        if (!is_dir($binDir)) {
-            return;
-        }
-
-        // add the bin dir to the PATH to make local binaries of deps usable in scripts
-        $binDir = realpath($binDir);
-        $hasBindDirInPath = preg_match(
-            '{(^|'.PATH_SEPARATOR.')'.preg_quote($binDir).'($|'.PATH_SEPARATOR.')}',
-            $_SERVER[$pathStr]
-        );
-
-        if (!$hasBindDirInPath && isset($_SERVER[$pathStr])) {
-            $_SERVER[$pathStr] = $binDir.PATH_SEPARATOR.getenv($pathStr);
-            putenv($pathStr.'='.$_SERVER[$pathStr]);
-        }
-    }
-}
diff --git a/src/Util/ComposerFile.php b/src/Util/ComposerFile.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..57f184ce7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Util/ComposerFile.php
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace GrumPHP\Util;
+
+use GrumPHP\Exception\RuntimeException;
+
+class ComposerFile
+{
+    private $configuration;
+
+    public function __construct(array $configuration)
+    {
+        $this->configuration = $configuration;
+    }
+
+    public static function createFrom(string $composerFileLocation): self
+    {
+        if (!\file_exists($composerFileLocation)) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(sprintf('composer.json not found on location %s', $composerFileLocation));
+        }
+        $json = \file_get_contents($composerFileLocation);
+
+        return new self(json_decode($json, true));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Composer contains some logic to prepend the current bin dir to the system PATH.
+     * To make sure this application works the same in CLI and Composer mode,
+     * we'll have to ensure that the bin path is always prefixed.
+     *
+     * @see https://github.com/composer/composer/blob/1.1/src/Composer/EventDispatcher/EventDispatcher.php#L147-L160
+     */
+    private static function ensureProjectBinDirInSystemPath(string $binDir): bool
+    {
+        $pathStr = 'PATH';
+        if (!isset($_SERVER[$pathStr]) && isset($_SERVER['Path'])) {
+            $pathStr = 'Path';
+        }
+
+        if (!is_dir($binDir)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        // add the bin dir to the PATH to make local binaries of deps usable in scripts
+        $binDir = realpath($binDir);
+        $hasBindDirInPath = preg_match(
+            '{(^|'.PATH_SEPARATOR.')'.preg_quote($binDir).'($|'.PATH_SEPARATOR.')}',
+            $_SERVER[$pathStr]
+        );
+
+        if (!$hasBindDirInPath && isset($_SERVER[$pathStr])) {
+            $_SERVER[$pathStr] = $binDir.PATH_SEPARATOR.getenv($pathStr);
+            putenv($pathStr.'='.$_SERVER[$pathStr]);
+        }
+
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    public function getBinDir(): string
+    {
+        $binDir = $this->configuration['bin-dir'] ?? 'vendor/bin';
+
+        if (self::ensureProjectBinDirInSystemPath($binDir)) {
+            return $binDir;
+        }
+
+        throw new RuntimeException('Could not get bin dir location');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return string|null
+     */
+    public function getConfigDefaultPath()
+    {
+        return null;
+    }
+}