diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/config/getTopLevelModules.js b/packages/react-scripts/config/getTopLevelModules.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..13818f196c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/config/getTopLevelModules.js
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+'use strict';
+
+const path = require('path');
+const paths = require('./paths');
+
+const mapDependenciesToFolder = (dependencies, folder) =>
+  dependencies.reduce(
+    (accumulator, dependency) =>
+      Object.assign(
+        {},
+        {
+          [dependency]: path.resolve(folder, dependency),
+        },
+        accumulator
+      ),
+    {}
+  );
+
+const topLevelModuleNames = () => {
+  const config = process.env.TOP_LEVEL_MODULES;
+  if (config) {
+    if (config.toLowerCase() === 'true') {
+      // return defaults
+      return ['react', 'react-dom'];
+    }
+
+    let json;
+    try {
+      json = JSON.parse(config);
+    } catch (e) {
+      // continue regardless of error
+    }
+
+    if (Array.isArray(json)) {
+      return json;
+    } else {
+      return config;
+    }
+  }
+};
+
+const getTopLevelModules = () => {
+  const modulesNames = topLevelModuleNames();
+  if (modulesNames) {
+    mapDependenciesToFolder(modulesNames, paths.appNodeModules);
+  }
+  return {};
+};
+
+module.exports = getTopLevelModules;
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.dev.js b/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.dev.js
index a6be022ba25..dc1e3c61880 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.dev.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.dev.js
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ const eslintFormatter = require('react-dev-utils/eslintFormatter');
 const ModuleScopePlugin = require('react-dev-utils/ModuleScopePlugin');
 const getClientEnvironment = require('./env');
 const paths = require('./paths');
+const getTopLevelModules = require('./getTopLevelModules');
 
 // Webpack uses `publicPath` to determine where the app is being served from.
 // In development, we always serve from the root. This makes config easier.
@@ -91,20 +92,23 @@ module.exports = {
     // `web` extension prefixes have been added for better support
     // for React Native Web.
     extensions: ['.web.js', '.mjs', '.js', '.json', '.web.jsx', '.jsx'],
-    alias: {
-      // @remove-on-eject-begin
-      // Resolve Babel runtime relative to react-scripts.
-      // It usually still works on npm 3 without this but it would be
-      // unfortunate to rely on, as react-scripts could be symlinked,
-      // and thus babel-runtime might not be resolvable from the source.
-      'babel-runtime': path.dirname(
-        require.resolve('babel-runtime/package.json')
-      ),
-      // @remove-on-eject-end
-      // Support React Native Web
-      // https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2016/08/a-glimpse-into-the-future-with-react-native-for-web/
-      'react-native': 'react-native-web',
-    },
+    alias: Object.assign(
+      {
+        // @remove-on-eject-begin
+        // Resolve Babel runtime relative to react-scripts.
+        // It usually still works on npm 3 without this but it would be
+        // unfortunate to rely on, as react-scripts could be symlinked,
+        // and thus babel-runtime might not be resolvable from the source.
+        'babel-runtime': path.dirname(
+          require.resolve('babel-runtime/package.json')
+        ),
+        // @remove-on-eject-end
+        // Support React Native Web
+        // https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2016/08/a-glimpse-into-the-future-with-react-native-for-web/
+        'react-native': 'react-native-web',
+      },
+      getTopLevelModules()
+    ),
     plugins: [
       // Prevents users from importing files from outside of src/ (or node_modules/).
       // This often causes confusion because we only process files within src/ with babel.
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.prod.js b/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.prod.js
index 457a9672892..983fd285dbe 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.prod.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.prod.js
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ const eslintFormatter = require('react-dev-utils/eslintFormatter');
 const ModuleScopePlugin = require('react-dev-utils/ModuleScopePlugin');
 const paths = require('./paths');
 const getClientEnvironment = require('./env');
+const getTopLevelModules = require('./getTopLevelModules');
 
 // Webpack uses `publicPath` to determine where the app is being served from.
 // It requires a trailing slash, or the file assets will get an incorrect path.
@@ -97,20 +98,23 @@ module.exports = {
     // `web` extension prefixes have been added for better support
     // for React Native Web.
     extensions: ['.web.js', '.mjs', '.js', '.json', '.web.jsx', '.jsx'],
-    alias: {
-      // @remove-on-eject-begin
-      // Resolve Babel runtime relative to react-scripts.
-      // It usually still works on npm 3 without this but it would be
-      // unfortunate to rely on, as react-scripts could be symlinked,
-      // and thus babel-runtime might not be resolvable from the source.
-      'babel-runtime': path.dirname(
-        require.resolve('babel-runtime/package.json')
-      ),
-      // @remove-on-eject-end
-      // Support React Native Web
-      // https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2016/08/a-glimpse-into-the-future-with-react-native-for-web/
-      'react-native': 'react-native-web',
-    },
+    alias: Object.assign(
+      {
+        // @remove-on-eject-begin
+        // Resolve Babel runtime relative to react-scripts.
+        // It usually still works on npm 3 without this but it would be
+        // unfortunate to rely on, as react-scripts could be symlinked,
+        // and thus babel-runtime might not be resolvable from the source.
+        'babel-runtime': path.dirname(
+          require.resolve('babel-runtime/package.json')
+        ),
+        // @remove-on-eject-end
+        // Support React Native Web
+        // https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2016/08/a-glimpse-into-the-future-with-react-native-for-web/
+        'react-native': 'react-native-web',
+      },
+      getTopLevelModules()
+    ),
     plugins: [
       // Prevents users from importing files from outside of src/ (or node_modules/).
       // This often causes confusion because we only process files within src/ with babel.