diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index bf0c409c2..7bfd1d489 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
-  "name": "@oclif/core",
+  "name": "oclif-core-rc",
   "description": "base library for oclif CLIs",
-  "version": "1.16.4",
+  "version": "16.6.7",
   "author": "Salesforce",
   "bugs": "https://github.com/oclif/core/issues",
   "dependencies": {
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
     "indent-string": "^4.0.0",
     "is-wsl": "^2.2.0",
     "js-yaml": "^3.14.1",
+    "json5": "^2.2.1",
     "natural-orderby": "^2.0.3",
     "object-treeify": "^1.1.33",
     "password-prompt": "^1.1.2",
diff --git a/src/config/plugin.ts b/src/config/plugin.ts
index 9e69b002b..b95cb013b 100644
--- a/src/config/plugin.ts
+++ b/src/config/plugin.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ import ModuleLoader from '../module-loader'
 
 const _pjson = require('../../package.json')
 
+const PACKAGE_JSON = 'package.json'
+const DENO_JSON = 'deno.jsonc'
+
 function topicsToArray(input: any, base?: string): Topic[] {
   if (!input) return []
   base = base ? `${base}:` : ''
@@ -40,11 +43,14 @@ function * up(from: string) {
   yield from
 }
 
+// Finds the root dir based on a node or a deno root config file,
+// which ever is closest up in the directory tree.
 async function findSourcesRoot(root: string) {
   for (const next of up(root)) {
-    const cur = path.join(next, 'package.json')
+    const nodeConfigFile = path.join(next, PACKAGE_JSON)
+    const denoConfigFile = path.join(next, DENO_JSON)
     // eslint-disable-next-line no-await-in-loop
-    if (await exists(cur)) return path.dirname(cur)
+    if (await exists(nodeConfigFile) || await exists(denoConfigFile)) return path.dirname(nodeConfigFile)
   }
 }
 
@@ -92,6 +98,11 @@ async function findRoot(name: string | undefined, root: string) {
   return findSourcesRoot(root)
 }
 
+async function findRootConfigFile(rootPath: string) {
+  if (await exists(path.join(rootPath, PACKAGE_JSON))) return PACKAGE_JSON
+  if (await exists(path.join(rootPath, DENO_JSON))) return DENO_JSON
+}
+
 export class Plugin implements IPlugin {
   // static loadedPlugins: {[name: string]: Plugin} = {}
   _base = `${_pjson.name}@${_pjson.version}`
@@ -137,12 +148,14 @@ export class Plugin implements IPlugin {
     this.tag = this.options.tag
     const root = await findRoot(this.options.name, this.options.root)
     if (!root) throw new Error(`could not find package.json with ${inspect(this.options)}`)
+    const rootConfigFile = await findRootConfigFile(root)
+    if (!rootConfigFile) throw new Error(`could not find ${rootConfigFile} in ${root}`)
     this.root = root
     this._debug('reading %s plugin %s', this.type, root)
-    this.pjson = await loadJSON(path.join(root, 'package.json')) as any
+    this.pjson = await loadJSON(path.join(root, rootConfigFile)) as any
     this.name = this.pjson.name
     this.alias = this.options.name ?? this.pjson.name
-    const pjsonPath = path.join(root, 'package.json')
+    const pjsonPath = path.join(root, rootConfigFile)
     if (!this.name) throw new Error(`no name in ${pjsonPath}`)
     if (!isProd() && !this.pjson.files) this.warn(`files attribute must be specified in ${pjsonPath}`)
     // eslint-disable-next-line new-cap
diff --git a/src/config/util.ts b/src/config/util.ts
index 5051b06c9..66f541e34 100644
--- a/src/config/util.ts
+++ b/src/config/util.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import * as fs from 'fs'
+import * as path from 'path'
+import * as JSON5 from 'json5'
 
 const debug = require('debug')
 
@@ -23,13 +25,16 @@ export function resolvePackage(id: string, paths: { paths: string[] }): string {
   return require.resolve(id, paths)
 }
 
-export function loadJSON(path: string): Promise<any> {
+export function loadJSON(_path: string): Promise<any> {
   debug('config')('loadJSON %s', path)
+  // Allows reading JSON with comments
+  const _JSON = path.extname(_path) === '.jsonc' ? JSON5 : JSON
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-    fs.readFile(path, 'utf8', (err: any, d: any) => {
+    fs.readFile(_path, 'utf8', (err: any, d: any) => {
       try {
         if (err) reject(err)
-        else resolve(JSON.parse(d))
+        const obj = _JSON.parse(d)
+        resolve(obj)
       } catch (error: any) {
         reject(error)
       }
diff --git a/src/interfaces/pjson.ts b/src/interfaces/pjson.ts
index bb7285b15..4eb1f83c7 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/pjson.ts
+++ b/src/interfaces/pjson.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ export namespace PJSON {
           version?: string;
           targets?: string[];
         };
+        deno?: {
+          version?: string;
+          targets?: string[];
+        };
       };
       topics?: {
         [k: string]: {
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 43a20535f..1e83631c0 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -2249,6 +2249,11 @@ json5@^2.1.2:
   dependencies:
     minimist "^1.2.5"
 
+json5@^2.2.1:
+  version "2.2.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/json5/-/json5-2.2.1.tgz#655d50ed1e6f95ad1a3caababd2b0efda10b395c"
+  integrity sha512-1hqLFMSrGHRHxav9q9gNjJ5EXznIxGVO09xQRrwplcS8qs28pZ8s8hupZAmqDwZUmVZ2Qb2jnyPOWcDH8m8dlA==
+
 jsonfile@^6.0.1:
   version "6.1.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/jsonfile/-/jsonfile-6.1.0.tgz#bc55b2634793c679ec6403094eb13698a6ec0aae"