diff --git a/piptools/scripts/options.py b/piptools/scripts/options.py
index 98fbbf7a..220a1a85 100644
--- a/piptools/scripts/options.py
+++ b/piptools/scripts/options.py
@@ -246,6 +246,7 @@ def _get_default_option(option_name: str) -> Any:
     "src_files",
     nargs=-1,
     type=click.Path(exists=True, allow_dash=True),
+    is_eager=True,
 )
 
 build_isolation = click.option(
diff --git a/tests/test_cli_compile.py b/tests/test_cli_compile.py
index c5031fc2..24d1476a 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli_compile.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli_compile.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 from pip._vendor.packaging.version import Version
 
 from piptools.build import ProjectMetadata
+from piptools.locations import DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_NAMES
 from piptools.scripts.compile import cli
 from piptools.utils import (
     COMPILE_EXCLUDE_OPTIONS,
@@ -3493,6 +3494,23 @@ def test_default_config_option(pip_conf, runner, make_config_file, tmpdir_cwd):
     assert "Dry-run, so nothing updated" in out.stderr
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("config_file_name", DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_NAMES)
+def test_default_config_in_requirements_dir(
+    pip_conf, runner, make_config_file, tmpdir_cwd, config_file_name
+):
+    make_config_file("dry-run", True, config_file_name=f"requirements/{config_file_name}")
+
+    req_dir = tmpdir_cwd / "requirements"
+    req_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True, parents=True)
+    req_in = req_dir / "requirements.in"
+    req_in.touch()
+
+    out = runner.invoke(cli, [req_in.as_posix()])
+
+    assert out.exit_code == 0, out.stderr
+    assert "Dry-run, so nothing updated" in out.stderr
+
+
 def test_no_config_option_overrides_config_with_defaults(
     pip_conf, runner, tmp_path, make_config_file
 ):
diff --git a/tests/test_cli_sync.py b/tests/test_cli_sync.py
index 5e69770f..cab89fb3 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli_sync.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli_sync.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import pytest
 from pip._vendor.packaging.version import Version
 
+from piptools.locations import DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_NAMES
 from piptools.scripts import sync
 from piptools.scripts.sync import cli
 
@@ -387,6 +388,24 @@ def test_default_config_option(run, runner, make_config_file, tmpdir_cwd):
     assert "Would install:" in out.stdout
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("config_file_name", DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_NAMES)
+@mock.patch("piptools.sync.run")
+def test_default_config_in_requirements_dir(
+    run, runner, make_config_file, tmpdir_cwd, config_file_name
+):
+    make_config_file("dry-run", True, config_file_name=f"requirements/{config_file_name}")
+
+    req_dir = tmpdir_cwd / "requirements"
+    req_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True, parents=True)
+    req_in = req_dir / "requirements.txt"
+    req_in.write_text("six==1.10.0")
+
+    out = runner.invoke(cli, [req_in.as_posix()])
+
+    assert out.exit_code == 1, out.stderr
+    assert "Would install:" in out.stdout
+
+
 @mock.patch("piptools.sync.run")
 def test_config_option(run, runner, make_config_file):
     config_file = make_config_file("dry-run", True)