diff --git a/cli/command/cli.go b/cli/command/cli.go
index e56c7a7985..110d242655 100644
--- a/cli/command/cli.go
+++ b/cli/command/cli.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package command
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
@@ -156,7 +155,7 @@ func getConfiguredCredentialStore(c *configfile.ConfigFile, serverAddress string
 // Initialize the dockerCli runs initialization that must happen after command
 // line flags are parsed.
 func (cli *DockerCli) Initialize(opts *cliflags.ClientOptions) error {
-	cli.configFile = LoadDefaultConfigFile(cli.err)
+	cli.configFile = cliconfig.LoadDefaultConfigFile(cli.err)
 
 	var err error
 	cli.client, err = NewAPIClientFromFlags(opts.Common, cli.configFile)
@@ -213,19 +212,6 @@ func NewDockerCli(in io.ReadCloser, out, err io.Writer) *DockerCli {
 	return &DockerCli{in: NewInStream(in), out: NewOutStream(out), err: err}
 }
 
-// LoadDefaultConfigFile attempts to load the default config file and returns
-// an initialized ConfigFile struct if none is found.
-func LoadDefaultConfigFile(err io.Writer) *configfile.ConfigFile {
-	configFile, e := cliconfig.Load(cliconfig.Dir())
-	if e != nil {
-		fmt.Fprintf(err, "WARNING: Error loading config file:%v\n", e)
-	}
-	if !configFile.ContainsAuth() {
-		credentials.DetectDefaultStore(configFile)
-	}
-	return configFile
-}
-
 // NewAPIClientFromFlags creates a new APIClient from command line flags
 func NewAPIClientFromFlags(opts *cliflags.CommonOptions, configFile *configfile.ConfigFile) (client.APIClient, error) {
 	host, err := getServerHost(opts.Hosts, opts.TLSOptions)
diff --git a/cli/config/config.go b/cli/config/config.go
index 58c83b6404..74862f1ab2 100644
--- a/cli/config/config.go
+++ b/cli/config/config.go
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 package config
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 
 	"github.com/docker/cli/cli/config/configfile"
+	"github.com/docker/cli/cli/config/credentials"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/pkg/homedir"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
@@ -38,15 +40,6 @@ func SetDir(dir string) {
 	configDir = dir
 }
 
-// NewConfigFile initializes an empty configuration file for the given filename 'fn'
-func NewConfigFile(fn string) *configfile.ConfigFile {
-	return &configfile.ConfigFile{
-		AuthConfigs: make(map[string]types.AuthConfig),
-		HTTPHeaders: make(map[string]string),
-		Filename:    fn,
-	}
-}
-
 // LegacyLoadFromReader is a convenience function that creates a ConfigFile object from
 // a non-nested reader
 func LegacyLoadFromReader(configData io.Reader) (*configfile.ConfigFile, error) {
@@ -118,3 +111,16 @@ func Load(configDir string) (*configfile.ConfigFile, error) {
 	}
 	return &configFile, nil
 }
+
+// LoadDefaultConfigFile attempts to load the default config file and returns
+// an initialized ConfigFile struct if none is found.
+func LoadDefaultConfigFile(err io.Writer) *configfile.ConfigFile {
+	configFile, e := Load(Dir())
+	if e != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(err, "WARNING: Error loading config file:%v\n", e)
+	}
+	if !configFile.ContainsAuth() {
+		credentials.DetectDefaultStore(configFile)
+	}
+	return configFile
+}
diff --git a/cli/config/config_test.go b/cli/config/config_test.go
index 7eab2efaa3..4f98df9bff 100644
--- a/cli/config/config_test.go
+++ b/cli/config/config_test.go
@@ -484,15 +484,6 @@ func TestConfigDir(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestConfigFile(t *testing.T) {
-	configFilename := "configFilename"
-	configFile := NewConfigFile(configFilename)
-
-	if configFile.Filename != configFilename {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected %s, got %s", configFilename, configFile.Filename)
-	}
-}
-
 func TestJSONReaderNoFile(t *testing.T) {
 	js := ` { "auths": { "https://index.docker.io/v1/": { "auth": "am9lam9lOmhlbGxv", "email": "user@example.com" } } }`
 
diff --git a/cli/config/configfile/file.go b/cli/config/configfile/file.go
index 9c2c4eec6d..e6dd13934c 100644
--- a/cli/config/configfile/file.go
+++ b/cli/config/configfile/file.go
@@ -53,6 +53,15 @@ type ProxyConfig struct {
 	FTPProxy   string `json:"ftpProxy,omitempty"`
 }
 
+// NewConfigFile initializes an empty configuration file for the given filename 'fn'
+func NewConfigFile(fn string) *ConfigFile {
+	return &ConfigFile{
+		AuthConfigs: make(map[string]types.AuthConfig),
+		HTTPHeaders: make(map[string]string),
+		Filename:    fn,
+	}
+}
+
 // LegacyLoadFromReader reads the non-nested configuration data given and sets up the
 // auth config information with given directory and populates the receiver object
 func (configFile *ConfigFile) LegacyLoadFromReader(configData io.Reader) error {
diff --git a/cli/config/configfile/file_test.go b/cli/config/configfile/file_test.go
index 8c84347719..ac3271006e 100644
--- a/cli/config/configfile/file_test.go
+++ b/cli/config/configfile/file_test.go
@@ -142,3 +142,10 @@ func TestProxyConfigPerHost(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	assert.Equal(t, expected, proxyConfig)
 }
+
+func TestConfigFile(t *testing.T) {
+	configFilename := "configFilename"
+	configFile := NewConfigFile(configFilename)
+
+	assert.Equal(t, configFilename, configFile.Filename)
+}
diff --git a/cli/config/credentials/file_store_test.go b/cli/config/credentials/file_store_test.go
index 6e16f2cd32..eadbcc23ef 100644
--- a/cli/config/credentials/file_store_test.go
+++ b/cli/config/credentials/file_store_test.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"testing"
 
-	cliconfig "github.com/docker/cli/cli/config"
 	"github.com/docker/cli/cli/config/configfile"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types"
 )
@@ -14,7 +13,7 @@ func newConfigFile(auths map[string]types.AuthConfig) *configfile.ConfigFile {
 	name := tmp.Name()
 	tmp.Close()
 
-	c := cliconfig.NewConfigFile(name)
+	c := configfile.NewConfigFile(name)
 	c.AuthConfigs = auths
 	return c
 }