diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5652477f..752783b8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ Simply specify the config in the same format as you would for a config file but
   "...": "... other standard package.json values",
   "nodemonConfig": {
     "ignore": ["test/*", "docs/*"],
-"delay": "2500"
+    "delay": "2500"
   }
 }
 ```
diff --git a/lib/config/command.js b/lib/config/command.js
index 2ce46346..9839b5c7 100644
--- a/lib/config/command.js
+++ b/lib/config/command.js
@@ -40,4 +40,4 @@ function command(settings) {
     executable: executable,
     args: args,
   };
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/lib/config/exec.js b/lib/config/exec.js
index 852186f6..0c0d234b 100644
--- a/lib/config/exec.js
+++ b/lib/config/exec.js
@@ -73,27 +73,39 @@ function exec(nodemonOptions, execMap) {
     execMap = {};
   }
 
+  var options = utils.clone(nodemonOptions || {});
+
+  if (!options.script && options.args.length) { // try with the first argument
+    const script = expandScript(options.args[0],
+      options.ext && ('.' + (options.ext || 'js').split(',')[0]));
+
+    if (script !== options.args[0]) { // if the script was found, shift it off our args
+      options.script = script;
+      options.args.shift();
+    }
+  }
+
   // if there's no exec found yet, then try to read it from the local
   // package.json this logic used to sit in the cli/parse, but actually the cli
   // should be parsed first, then the user options (via nodemon.json) then
   // finally default down to pot shots at the directory via package.json
-  if (!nodemonOptions.exec && !nodemonOptions.script) {
+  if (!options.exec && !options.script) {
     var found = execFromPackage();
     if (found !== null) {
       if (found.exec) {
-        nodemonOptions.exec = found.exec;
+        options.exec = found.exec;
       }
-      if (!nodemonOptions.script) {
-        nodemonOptions.script = found.script;
+      if (!options.script) {
+        options.script = found.script;
       }
-      if (Array.isArray(nodemonOptions.args) &&
-        nodemonOptions.scriptPosition === null) {
-        nodemonOptions.scriptPosition = nodemonOptions.args.length;
+      if (Array.isArray(options.args) &&
+        options.scriptPosition === null) {
+        options.scriptPosition = options.args.length;
       }
     }
   }
 
-  var options = utils.clone(nodemonOptions || {});
+  // var options = utils.clone(nodemonOptions || {});
   var script = path.basename(options.script || '');
 
   var scriptExt = path.extname(script).slice(1);
diff --git a/lib/config/load.js b/lib/config/load.js
index ca4dd3c9..39b1d05b 100644
--- a/lib/config/load.js
+++ b/lib/config/load.js
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ var exec = require('./exec');
 var defaults = require('./defaults');
 
 module.exports = load;
+module.exports.mutateExecOptions = mutateExecOptions;
 
 var existsSync = fs.existsSync || path.existsSync;
 
@@ -72,23 +73,7 @@ function load(settings, options, config, callback) {
         }
       }
 
-      // work out the execOptions based on the final config we have
-      options.execOptions = exec({
-        script: options.script,
-        exec: options.exec,
-        args: options.args,
-        scriptPosition: options.scriptPosition,
-        nodeArgs: options.nodeArgs,
-        execArgs: options.execArgs,
-        ext: options.ext,
-        env: options.env,
-      }, options.execMap);
-
-      // clean up values that we don't need at the top level
-      delete options.scriptPosition;
-      delete options.script;
-      delete options.args;
-      delete options.ext;
+      mutateExecOptions(options);
 
       if (options.quiet) {
         utils.quiet();
@@ -230,3 +215,25 @@ function loadPackageJSON(config, ready) {
     ready(settings.nodemonConfig || {});
   });
 }
+
+function mutateExecOptions(options) {
+  // work out the execOptions based on the final config we have
+  options.execOptions = exec({
+    script: options.script,
+    exec: options.exec,
+    args: options.args,
+    scriptPosition: options.scriptPosition,
+    nodeArgs: options.nodeArgs,
+    execArgs: options.execArgs,
+    ext: options.ext,
+    env: options.env,
+  }, options.execMap);
+
+  // clean up values that we don't need at the top level
+  delete options.scriptPosition;
+  delete options.script;
+  delete options.args;
+  delete options.ext;
+
+  return options;
+}
diff --git a/test/cli/parse.test.js b/test/cli/parse.test.js
index 15e16d78..636feb5f 100644
--- a/test/cli/parse.test.js
+++ b/test/cli/parse.test.js
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ var cli = require('../../lib/cli/'),
   command = require('../../lib/config/command'),
   utils = require('../../lib/utils');
 
+const mutateExecOptions = require('../../lib/config/load').mutateExecOptions;
+
 function asCLI(cmd) {
   return ('node nodemon ' + (cmd || '')).trim();
 }
@@ -26,6 +28,7 @@ function parse(cmd) {
   });
 
   return parsed;
+    return mutateExecOptions(cli.parse(cmd));
 }
 
 function commandToString(command) {
@@ -97,18 +100,6 @@ describe('nodemon CLI parser', function () {
     assert(cmd === 'node --harmony app.js', 'command is ' + cmd);
   });
 
-  // it('should put the script at the end if found in package.scripts.start', function () {
-  //   var pwd = process.cwd();
-  //   process.chdir('test/fixtures/packages/start'); // allows us to load text/fixtures/package.json
-  //   var settings = parse(asCLI('--harmony')),
-  //       cmd = commandToString(command(settings));
-
-  //   process.chdir(pwd);
-  //   console.log(settings, cmd);
-
-  //   assert(cmd === 'node --harmony app.js', 'command is ' + cmd);
-  // });
-
   it('should support default express4 format', function () {
     var pwd = process.cwd();
     process.chdir('test/fixtures/packages/express4'); // allows us to load text/fixtures/package.json
@@ -274,6 +265,27 @@ describe('nodemon respects custom "ext" and "execMap"', function () {
   });
 });
 
+describe('nodemon should support implicit extensions', () => {
+  it('should expand script to script.js', () => {
+    const cwd = process.cwd();
+    process.chdir('test/fixtures/');
+    const settings = parse(asCLI('env'));
+    process.chdir(cwd);
+    var cmd = commandToString(command(settings));
+    assert.equal(cmd, 'node env.js', 'implicit extension added');
+  });
+
+  it('should support non-js', () => {
+    const cwd = process.cwd();
+    process.chdir('test/fixtures/');
+    const settings = parse(asCLI('hello --ext py'));
+    process.chdir(cwd);
+    var cmd = commandToString(command(settings));
+    assert.equal(cmd, 'node hello.py', 'implicit extension added');
+  });
+
+});
+
 describe('nodemon should slurp properly', () => {
   it('should read quotes as a single entity', () => {
     const settings = parse(asCLI('notindex.js -- -b "hello - world"'));