diff --git a/commands/hugobuilder.go b/commands/hugobuilder.go
index 20a3228f9..20e800aca 100644
--- a/commands/hugobuilder.go
+++ b/commands/hugobuilder.go
@@ -990,7 +990,9 @@ func (c *hugoBuilder) loadConfig(cd *simplecobra.Commandeer, running bool) error
 	cfg := config.New()
 	cfg.Set("renderToDisk", (c.s == nil && !c.r.renderToMemory) || (c.s != nil && c.s.renderToDisk))
 	watch := c.r.buildWatch || (c.s != nil && c.s.serverWatch)
-	cfg.Set("environment", c.r.environment)
+	if c.r.environment != "" {
+		cfg.Set("environment", c.r.environment)
+	}
 
 	cfg.Set("internal", maps.Params{
 		"running": running,
diff --git a/common/hugo/hugo.go b/common/hugo/hugo.go
index 6402d7b88..4769852a0 100644
--- a/common/hugo/hugo.go
+++ b/common/hugo/hugo.go
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ type HugoInfo struct {
 	// version of go that the Hugo binary was built with
 	GoVersion string
 
+	conf ConfigProvider
 	deps []*Dependency
 }
 
@@ -81,15 +82,26 @@ func (i HugoInfo) IsExtended() bool {
 	return IsExtended
 }
 
+// WorkingDir returns the project working directory.
+func (i HugoInfo) WorkingDir() string {
+	return i.conf.WorkingDir()
+}
+
 // Deps gets a list of dependencies for this Hugo build.
 func (i HugoInfo) Deps() []*Dependency {
 	return i.deps
 }
 
+// ConfigProvider represents the config options that are relevant for HugoInfo.
+type ConfigProvider interface {
+	Environment() string
+	WorkingDir() string
+}
+
 // NewInfo creates a new Hugo Info object.
-func NewInfo(environment string, deps []*Dependency) HugoInfo {
-	if environment == "" {
-		environment = EnvironmentProduction
+func NewInfo(conf ConfigProvider, deps []*Dependency) HugoInfo {
+	if conf.Environment() == "" {
+		panic("environment not set")
 	}
 	var (
 		commitHash string
@@ -107,7 +119,8 @@ func NewInfo(environment string, deps []*Dependency) HugoInfo {
 	return HugoInfo{
 		CommitHash:  commitHash,
 		BuildDate:   buildDate,
-		Environment: environment,
+		Environment: conf.Environment(),
+		conf:        conf,
 		deps:        deps,
 		GoVersion:   goVersion,
 	}
diff --git a/common/hugo/hugo_test.go b/common/hugo/hugo_test.go
index f2ad0f5c1..b0279f111 100644
--- a/common/hugo/hugo_test.go
+++ b/common/hugo/hugo_test.go
@@ -23,10 +23,12 @@ import (
 func TestHugoInfo(t *testing.T) {
 	c := qt.New(t)
 
-	hugoInfo := NewInfo("", nil)
+	conf := testConfig{environment: "production", workingDir: "/mywork"}
+	hugoInfo := NewInfo(conf, nil)
 
 	c.Assert(hugoInfo.Version(), qt.Equals, CurrentVersion.Version())
 	c.Assert(fmt.Sprintf("%T", VersionString("")), qt.Equals, fmt.Sprintf("%T", hugoInfo.Version()))
+	c.Assert(hugoInfo.WorkingDir(), qt.Equals, "/mywork")
 
 	bi := getBuildInfo()
 	if bi != nil {
@@ -39,6 +41,19 @@ func TestHugoInfo(t *testing.T) {
 	c.Assert(hugoInfo.IsProduction(), qt.Equals, true)
 	c.Assert(hugoInfo.IsExtended(), qt.Equals, IsExtended)
 
-	devHugoInfo := NewInfo("development", nil)
+	devHugoInfo := NewInfo(testConfig{environment: "development"}, nil)
 	c.Assert(devHugoInfo.IsProduction(), qt.Equals, false)
 }
+
+type testConfig struct {
+	environment string
+	workingDir  string
+}
+
+func (c testConfig) Environment() string {
+	return c.environment
+}
+
+func (c testConfig) WorkingDir() string {
+	return c.workingDir
+}
diff --git a/config/allconfig/configlanguage.go b/config/allconfig/configlanguage.go
index b28d54769..95c5c7edf 100644
--- a/config/allconfig/configlanguage.go
+++ b/config/allconfig/configlanguage.go
@@ -101,6 +101,10 @@ func (c ConfigLanguage) DirsBase() config.CommonDirs {
 	return c.m.Base.CommonDirs
 }
 
+func (c ConfigLanguage) WorkingDir() string {
+	return c.m.Base.WorkingDir
+}
+
 func (c ConfigLanguage) Quiet() bool {
 	return c.m.Base.Internal.Quiet
 }
diff --git a/config/configProvider.go b/config/configProvider.go
index ac00c7476..8ed0728bd 100644
--- a/config/configProvider.go
+++ b/config/configProvider.go
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ type AllProvider interface {
 	Timeout() time.Duration
 	StaticDirs() []string
 	IgnoredErrors() map[string]bool
+	WorkingDir() string
 }
 
 // Provider provides the configuration settings for Hugo.
diff --git a/hugolib/config_test.go b/hugolib/config_test.go
index 24275025c..4af9b7998 100644
--- a/hugolib/config_test.go
+++ b/hugolib/config_test.go
@@ -898,6 +898,29 @@ mainSections: []
 
 }
 
+func TestConfigHugoWorkingDir(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	files := `
+-- hugo.toml --
+-- layouts/index.html --
+WorkingDir: {{ hugo.WorkingDir }}|
+
+`
+	b := NewIntegrationTestBuilder(
+		IntegrationTestConfig{
+			T:           t,
+			TxtarString: files,
+			WorkingDir:  "myworkingdir",
+		},
+	).Build()
+
+	b.AssertFileContent("public/index.html", `
+WorkingDir: myworkingdir|
+`)
+
+}
+
 func TestConfigMergeLanguageDeepEmptyLefSide(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
diff --git a/hugolib/site_new.go b/hugolib/site_new.go
index b0b34e457..1262cc3ae 100644
--- a/hugolib/site_new.go
+++ b/hugolib/site_new.go
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ func newHugoSitesNew(cfg deps.DepsCfg, d *deps.Deps, sites []*Site) (*HugoSites,
 		dependencies = append(dependencies, depFromMod(m))
 	}
 
-	h.hugoInfo = hugo.NewInfo(h.Configs.Base.Environment, dependencies)
+	h.hugoInfo = hugo.NewInfo(h.Configs.GetFirstLanguageConfig(), dependencies)
 
 	var prototype *deps.Deps
 	for i, s := range sites {
diff --git a/langs/i18n/i18n_test.go b/langs/i18n/i18n_test.go
index 491ae3373..1ac6144dd 100644
--- a/langs/i18n/i18n_test.go
+++ b/langs/i18n/i18n_test.go
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ func prepareDeps(afs afero.Fs, cfg config.Provider) (*deps.Deps, *TranslationPro
 	translationProvider := NewTranslationProvider()
 	d.TemplateProvider = tplimpl.DefaultTemplateProvider
 	d.TranslationProvider = translationProvider
-	d.Site = page.NewDummyHugoSite(cfg)
+	d.Site = page.NewDummyHugoSite(d.Conf)
 	if err := d.Compile(nil); err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
diff --git a/resources/page/page_matcher_test.go b/resources/page/page_matcher_test.go
index 990312ed1..da47843db 100644
--- a/resources/page/page_matcher_test.go
+++ b/resources/page/page_matcher_test.go
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ import (
 
 func TestPageMatcher(t *testing.T) {
 	c := qt.New(t)
-	developmentTestSite := testSite{h: hugo.NewInfo("development", nil)}
-	productionTestSite := testSite{h: hugo.NewInfo("production", nil)}
+	developmentTestSite := testSite{h: hugo.NewInfo(testConfig{environment: "development"}, nil)}
+	productionTestSite := testSite{h: hugo.NewInfo(testConfig{environment: "production"}, nil)}
 
 	p1, p2, p3 :=
 		&testPage{path: "/p1", kind: "section", lang: "en", site: developmentTestSite},
@@ -156,3 +156,16 @@ func TestDecodeCascadeConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	c.Assert(got, qt.IsNotNil)
 
 }
+
+type testConfig struct {
+	environment string
+	workingDir  string
+}
+
+func (c testConfig) Environment() string {
+	return c.environment
+}
+
+func (c testConfig) WorkingDir() string {
+	return c.workingDir
+}
diff --git a/resources/page/site.go b/resources/page/site.go
index 16e070160..da97dfe6e 100644
--- a/resources/page/site.go
+++ b/resources/page/site.go
@@ -444,9 +444,9 @@ func (s testSite) Param(key any) (any, error) {
 }
 
 // NewDummyHugoSite creates a new minimal test site.
-func NewDummyHugoSite(cfg config.Provider) Site {
+func NewDummyHugoSite(conf config.AllProvider) Site {
 	return testSite{
-		h: hugo.NewInfo(hugo.EnvironmentProduction, nil),
+		h: hugo.NewInfo(conf, nil),
 		l: &langs.Language{
 			Lang: "en",
 		},
diff --git a/tpl/cast/docshelper.go b/tpl/cast/docshelper.go
index 2ed28e3c5..981c51551 100644
--- a/tpl/cast/docshelper.go
+++ b/tpl/cast/docshelper.go
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ func init() {
 		if err := d.Init(); err != nil {
 			panic(err)
 		}
-		d.Site = page.NewDummyHugoSite(newTestConfig())
+		conf := testconfig.GetTestConfig(nil, newTestConfig())
+		d.Site = page.NewDummyHugoSite(conf)
 
 		var namespaces internal.TemplateFuncsNamespaces