diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8b9543b..2864255 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -42,12 +42,18 @@ You can use $workspaceFolder in includePaths which will be replaced by the full
 
 
 ### Perl Critic Customization 
-You should specify a Perl::Critic profile via `perlnavigator.perlcriticProfile`. You can use `$workspaceFolder` as a place holder here. If perlcriticProfile is not set, it will check for `~./perlcriticrc`.
-If that also does not exist, a default profile will be used. This default profile is not very strict.
-The default severities are reasonable, (primarily used for coloring the squiggly underlines) but you can change `perlnavigator.severity1` through severity5. Allowable options are error, warning, info, and hint.
+You should specify a Perl::Critic profile via `perlnavigator.perlcriticProfile`.
+You can use `$workspaceFolder` as a place holder here.
+If perlcriticProfile is not set, it will use the same logic to find profiles as [Perl::Critic](https://metacpan.org/pod/Perl::Critic#CONFIGURATION).
+If none exist, a [default profile](server/src/perl/defaultCriticProfile) will be used.
+This default profile is not very strict, but is at least consistent unlike the default behavior of Perl::Critic (load *all* installed policy modules).
+The default severities are reasonable, (primarily used for coloring the squiggly underlines) but you can change `perlnavigator.severity1` through severity5.
+Allowable options are error, warning, info, and hint.
 
 ### Perl Tidy Customization
-It is recommended to set `perlnavigator.perltidyProfile` if you would like customized formatting. Otherwise, the default settings will be used. I might create a default profile at some point. 
+It is recommended to set `perlnavigator.perltidyProfile` if you would like customized formatting.
+Otherwise, the default profile discovery logic in [Perl::Tidy](https://metacpan.org/dist/Perl-Tidy/view/bin/perltidy#The-perltidyrc-file) will be used.
+I might create a default profile at some point.
 
 ### Perlimports Customization
 Perlimports offers additional diagnostics when imports can be cleaned up. When perlimports is enabled, "Format Document" and "Format Selection" will run perlimports in addition to perltidy.
@@ -96,6 +102,7 @@ Sublime Text requires the following minimum settings under LSP settings (modify
         "settings": {
             // "perlnavigator.perltidyProfile": "~/.perltidyrc",
             // "perlnavigator.perlcriticProfile": "~/.perlcriticrc",
+    # In which case you probably deserve the default behavior of Perl::Critic.
             // "perlnavigator.perlcriticMessageFormat": "%m - %e",
             // "perlnavigator.perlEnvAdd": false, // default: true
             // "perlnavigator.perlEnv": {
diff --git a/server/src/perl/criticWrapper.pl b/server/src/perl/criticWrapper.pl
index abf70f2..92ed639 100644
--- a/server/src/perl/criticWrapper.pl
+++ b/server/src/perl/criticWrapper.pl
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use strict;
 use warnings;
 use Getopt::Long qw( GetOptions );
+use Cwd();
 use File::Spec ();
 use File::Basename ();
 use utf8;
@@ -104,24 +105,32 @@ sub AsciiReplacementChar {
     return $ord < 26 ? chr($ord + 65) : chr($ord + 71);
 }
 
+# Search for critic policy.
+# Follow the same convention as the upstream tool: https://metacpan.org/pod/Perl::Critic#CONFIGURATION
+# Opts > Env > cwd > home > default
+# You may be asking yourself, why do any of this at all versus the simplicity of the tidy wrapper?
+# Perltidy follows the same logic to resolve RC files, after all.
+# Because we want to provide a default configuration file, which means we have to substantially reimplement logic in Perl::Critic::UserProfile.
+# This is because the default behavior of Perl::Critic is to load all available policies installed, which leads to inconsistent behavior.
 sub resolve_profile {
     my $profile = shift;
-    if ($profile){
-        return $profile if -f $profile;
-        die("User specified Critic profile $profile not readable");
-    }
-
-    return $ENV{'PERLCRITIC'} if $ENV{'PERLCRITIC'} && -r $ENV{'PERLCRITIC'};
 
-    if ( my $home_dir = find_home_dir() ) {
-        $profile = File::Spec->catfile( $home_dir, '.perlcriticrc' );
-        return $profile if -f $profile;
+    my @possible_rc = (
+        $profile,
+        $ENV{'PERLCRITIC'},
+        File::Spec->catfile( Cwd::getcwd(), '.perlcriticrc' ),
+        File::Spec->catfile( find_home_dir(), '.perlcriticrc' ),
+        File::Spec->catfile( File::Basename::dirname(__FILE__), 'defaultCriticProfile' ),
+    );
+
+    foreach my $rc (@possible_rc) {
+        # It is not necessary and indeed would be a TOCTOU to die because of a file test here.
+        # Perl::Critic::UserProfile will die if it cant't parse via Config::Tiny.
+        return $rc if $rc && -f $rc;
     }
 
-    $profile = File::Spec->catfile( File::Basename::dirname(__FILE__), 'defaultCriticProfile' );
-    die("Can't find Navigator's default profile $profile ?!") unless( -f $profile );
-
-    return $profile;
+    # If nothing above exists, go with the default behavior.
+    return;
 }
 
 sub find_home_dir {