diff --git a/lib/workers/branch/lerna.js b/lib/workers/branch/lerna.js
index 962167b9f7..c10d3afbd4 100644
--- a/lib/workers/branch/lerna.js
+++ b/lib/workers/branch/lerna.js
@@ -10,17 +10,20 @@ async function generateLockFiles(manager, tmpDir, env) {
   let stderr;
   try {
     const startTime = process.hrtime();
-    let lernaVersion = 'latest';
+    let lernaVersion;
     try {
-      lernaVersion = JSON.parse(await platform.getFile('package.json'))
-        .devDependencies.lerna;
+      lernaVersion =
+        JSON.parse(await platform.getFile('package.json')).dependencies.lerna ||
+        JSON.parse(await platform.getFile('package.json')).devDependencies
+          .lerna;
     } catch (err) {
-      logger.warn('Could not detect lerna in devDependencies');
+      logger.warn('Could not detect lerna version in package.json');
     }
     logger.debug('Using lerna version ' + lernaVersion);
     const params =
       manager === 'npm' ? '--package-lock-only' : '--ignore-scripts';
-    const cmd = `${manager} install ${params} && npx lerna@${lernaVersion} bootstrap -- ${params}`;
+    const cmd = `${manager} install ${params} && npx lerna@${lernaVersion ||
+      'latest'} bootstrap -- ${params}`;
     logger.debug({ cmd });
     // TODO: Switch to native util.promisify once using only node 8
     ({ stdout, stderr } = await exec(cmd, {