diff --git a/packages/typescript-estree/src/create-program/createProjectService.ts b/packages/typescript-estree/src/create-program/createProjectService.ts
index 4b8c44c0321c..edf5f9f9167f 100644
--- a/packages/typescript-estree/src/create-program/createProjectService.ts
+++ b/packages/typescript-estree/src/create-program/createProjectService.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 /* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-empty-function -- for TypeScript APIs*/
-import os from 'node:os';
+import path from 'node:path';
 
 import debug from 'debug';
 import type * as ts from 'typescript/lib/tsserverlibrary';
 
 import type { ProjectServiceOptions } from '../parser-options';
+import { getParsedConfigFile } from './getParsedConfigFile';
 import { validateDefaultProjectForFilesGlob } from './validateDefaultProjectForFilesGlob';
 
 const DEFAULT_PROJECT_MATCHED_FILES_THRESHOLD = 8;
@@ -123,38 +124,26 @@ export function createProjectService(
 
   if (options.defaultProject) {
     log('Enabling default project: %s', options.defaultProject);
-    let configRead;
+    let configFile: ts.ParsedCommandLine;
 
     try {
-      configRead = tsserver.readConfigFile(
+      configFile = getParsedConfigFile(
+        tsserver,
         options.defaultProject,
-        system.readFile,
+        path.dirname(options.defaultProject),
       );
     } catch (error) {
       throw new Error(
-        `Could not parse default project '${options.defaultProject}': ${(error as Error).message}`,
-      );
-    }
-
-    if (configRead.error) {
-      throw new Error(
-        `Could not read default project '${options.defaultProject}': ${tsserver.formatDiagnostic(
-          configRead.error,
-          {
-            getCurrentDirectory: system.getCurrentDirectory,
-            getCanonicalFileName: fileName => fileName,
-            getNewLine: () => os.EOL,
-          },
-        )}`,
+        `Could not read default project '${options.defaultProject}': ${(error as Error).message}`,
       );
     }
 
     service.setCompilerOptionsForInferredProjects(
-      (
-        configRead.config as {
-          compilerOptions: ts.server.protocol.InferredProjectCompilerOptions;
-        }
-      ).compilerOptions,
+      // NOTE: The inferred projects API is not intended for source files when a tsconfig
+      // exists.  There is no API that generates an InferredProjectCompilerOptions suggesting
+      // it is meant for hard coded options passed in. Hard asserting as a work around.
+      // See https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript/blob/27bcd4cb5a98bce46c9cdd749752703ead021a4b/src/server/protocol.ts#L1904
+      configFile.options as ts.server.protocol.InferredProjectCompilerOptions,
     );
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/typescript-estree/src/create-program/getParsedConfigFile.ts b/packages/typescript-estree/src/create-program/getParsedConfigFile.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..703b8500f070
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/typescript-estree/src/create-program/getParsedConfigFile.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+import * as fs from 'fs';
+import * as path from 'path';
+import type * as ts from 'typescript/lib/tsserverlibrary';
+
+import { CORE_COMPILER_OPTIONS } from './shared';
+
+/**
+ * Utility offered by parser to help consumers parse a config file.
+ *
+ * @param configFile the path to the tsconfig.json file, relative to `projectDirectory`
+ * @param projectDirectory the project directory to use as the CWD, defaults to `process.cwd()`
+ */
+function getParsedConfigFile(
+  tsserver: typeof ts,
+  configFile: string,
+  projectDirectory?: string,
+): ts.ParsedCommandLine {
+  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unnecessary-condition
+  if (tsserver.sys === undefined) {
+    throw new Error(
+      '`getParsedConfigFile` is only supported in a Node-like environment.',
+    );
+  }
+
+  const parsed = tsserver.getParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile(
+    configFile,
+    CORE_COMPILER_OPTIONS,
+    {
+      onUnRecoverableConfigFileDiagnostic: diag => {
+        throw new Error(formatDiagnostics([diag])); // ensures that `parsed` is defined.
+      },
+      fileExists: fs.existsSync,
+      getCurrentDirectory,
+      readDirectory: tsserver.sys.readDirectory,
+      readFile: file => fs.readFileSync(file, 'utf-8'),
+      useCaseSensitiveFileNames: tsserver.sys.useCaseSensitiveFileNames,
+    },
+  );
+
+  if (parsed?.errors.length) {
+    throw new Error(formatDiagnostics(parsed.errors));
+  }
+
+  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-non-null-assertion
+  return parsed!;
+
+  function getCurrentDirectory(): string {
+    return projectDirectory ? path.resolve(projectDirectory) : process.cwd();
+  }
+
+  function formatDiagnostics(diagnostics: ts.Diagnostic[]): string | undefined {
+    return tsserver.formatDiagnostics(diagnostics, {
+      getCanonicalFileName: f => f,
+      getCurrentDirectory,
+      getNewLine: () => '\n',
+    });
+  }
+}
+
+export { getParsedConfigFile };
diff --git a/packages/typescript-estree/src/create-program/useProvidedPrograms.ts b/packages/typescript-estree/src/create-program/useProvidedPrograms.ts
index 753dbd8a2b97..e4e03eb2d0d4 100644
--- a/packages/typescript-estree/src/create-program/useProvidedPrograms.ts
+++ b/packages/typescript-estree/src/create-program/useProvidedPrograms.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import debug from 'debug';
-import * as fs from 'fs';
 import * as path from 'path';
 import * as ts from 'typescript';
 
 import type { ParseSettings } from '../parseSettings';
+import { getParsedConfigFile } from './getParsedConfigFile';
 import type { ASTAndDefiniteProgram } from './shared';
-import { CORE_COMPILER_OPTIONS, getAstFromProgram } from './shared';
+import { getAstFromProgram } from './shared';
 
 const log = debug('typescript-eslint:typescript-estree:useProvidedProgram');
 
@@ -60,44 +60,9 @@ function createProgramFromConfigFile(
   configFile: string,
   projectDirectory?: string,
 ): ts.Program {
-  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unnecessary-condition
-  if (ts.sys === undefined) {
-    throw new Error(
-      '`createProgramFromConfigFile` is only supported in a Node-like environment.',
-    );
-  }
-
-  const parsed = ts.getParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile(
-    configFile,
-    CORE_COMPILER_OPTIONS,
-    {
-      onUnRecoverableConfigFileDiagnostic: diag => {
-        throw new Error(formatDiagnostics([diag])); // ensures that `parsed` is defined.
-      },
-      fileExists: fs.existsSync,
-      getCurrentDirectory: () =>
-        (projectDirectory && path.resolve(projectDirectory)) || process.cwd(),
-      readDirectory: ts.sys.readDirectory,
-      readFile: file => fs.readFileSync(file, 'utf-8'),
-      useCaseSensitiveFileNames: ts.sys.useCaseSensitiveFileNames,
-    },
-  );
-  // parsed is not undefined, since we throw on failure.
-  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-non-null-assertion
-  const result = parsed!;
-  if (result.errors.length) {
-    throw new Error(formatDiagnostics(result.errors));
-  }
-  const host = ts.createCompilerHost(result.options, true);
-  return ts.createProgram(result.fileNames, result.options, host);
-}
-
-function formatDiagnostics(diagnostics: ts.Diagnostic[]): string | undefined {
-  return ts.formatDiagnostics(diagnostics, {
-    getCanonicalFileName: f => f,
-    getCurrentDirectory: process.cwd,
-    getNewLine: () => '\n',
-  });
+  const parsed = getParsedConfigFile(ts, configFile, projectDirectory);
+  const host = ts.createCompilerHost(parsed.options, true);
+  return ts.createProgram(parsed.fileNames, parsed.options, host);
 }
 
 export { useProvidedPrograms, createProgramFromConfigFile };
diff --git a/packages/typescript-estree/tests/lib/createProjectService.test.ts b/packages/typescript-estree/tests/lib/createProjectService.test.ts
index 5f34dfeb802e..cbf3d72dab9c 100644
--- a/packages/typescript-estree/tests/lib/createProjectService.test.ts
+++ b/packages/typescript-estree/tests/lib/createProjectService.test.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,16 @@
 import debug from 'debug';
 import * as ts from 'typescript';
 
-import { createProjectService } from '../../src/create-program/createProjectService';
-
-const mockReadConfigFile = jest.fn();
+const mockGetParsedConfigFile = jest.fn();
 const mockSetCompilerOptionsForInferredProjects = jest.fn();
 const mockSetHostConfiguration = jest.fn();
 
+jest.mock('../../src/create-program/getParsedConfigFile', () => ({
+  getParsedConfigFile: mockGetParsedConfigFile,
+}));
+
 jest.mock('typescript/lib/tsserverlibrary', () => ({
   ...jest.requireActual('typescript/lib/tsserverlibrary'),
-  readConfigFile: mockReadConfigFile,
   server: {
     ...jest.requireActual('typescript/lib/tsserverlibrary').server,
     ProjectService: class {
@@ -33,6 +34,11 @@ jest.mock('typescript/lib/tsserverlibrary', () => ({
   },
 }));
 
+const {
+  createProjectService,
+  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-require-imports
+} = require('../../src/create-program/createProjectService');
+
 describe('createProjectService', () => {
   afterEach(() => {
     jest.resetAllMocks();
@@ -51,18 +57,9 @@ describe('createProjectService', () => {
     expect(settings.allowDefaultProject).toBeUndefined();
   });
 
-  it('throws an error when options.defaultProject is set and readConfigFile returns an error', () => {
-    mockReadConfigFile.mockReturnValue({
-      error: {
-        category: ts.DiagnosticCategory.Error,
-        code: 1234,
-        file: ts.createSourceFile('./tsconfig.json', '', {
-          languageVersion: ts.ScriptTarget.Latest,
-        }),
-        start: 0,
-        length: 0,
-        messageText: 'Oh no!',
-      } satisfies ts.Diagnostic,
+  it('throws an error when options.defaultProject is set and getParsedConfigFile throws a diagnostic error', () => {
+    mockGetParsedConfigFile.mockImplementation(() => {
+      throw new Error('./tsconfig.json(1,1): error TS1234: Oh no!');
     });
 
     expect(() =>
@@ -78,9 +75,11 @@ describe('createProjectService', () => {
     );
   });
 
-  it('throws an error when options.defaultProject is set and readConfigFile throws an error', () => {
-    mockReadConfigFile.mockImplementation(() => {
-      throw new Error('Oh no!');
+  it('throws an error when options.defaultProject is set and getParsedConfigFile throws an environment error', () => {
+    mockGetParsedConfigFile.mockImplementation(() => {
+      throw new Error(
+        '`getParsedConfigFile` is only supported in a Node-like environment.',
+      );
     });
 
     expect(() =>
@@ -91,12 +90,14 @@ describe('createProjectService', () => {
         },
         undefined,
       ),
-    ).toThrow("Could not parse default project './tsconfig.json': Oh no!");
+    ).toThrow(
+      "Could not read default project './tsconfig.json': `getParsedConfigFile` is only supported in a Node-like environment.",
+    );
   });
 
-  it('uses the default projects compiler options when options.defaultProject is set and readConfigFile succeeds', () => {
+  it('uses the default projects compiler options when options.defaultProject is set and getParsedConfigFile succeeds', () => {
     const compilerOptions = { strict: true };
-    mockReadConfigFile.mockReturnValue({ config: { compilerOptions } });
+    mockGetParsedConfigFile.mockReturnValue({ options: compilerOptions });
 
     const { service } = createProjectService(
       {
diff --git a/packages/typescript-estree/tests/lib/getParsedConfigFile.test.ts b/packages/typescript-estree/tests/lib/getParsedConfigFile.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a1aa1a2c04e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/typescript-estree/tests/lib/getParsedConfigFile.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+import path from 'node:path';
+
+import * as ts from 'typescript';
+
+import { getParsedConfigFile } from '../../src/create-program/getParsedConfigFile';
+
+const mockGetParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile = jest.fn();
+
+const mockTsserver: typeof ts = {
+  sys: {} as ts.System,
+  formatDiagnostics: ts.formatDiagnostics,
+  getParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile: mockGetParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile,
+  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+} as any;
+
+describe('getParsedConfigFile', () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.resetAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it('throws an error when tsserver.sys is undefined', () => {
+    expect(() =>
+      getParsedConfigFile({} as typeof ts, './tsconfig.json'),
+    ).toThrow(
+      '`getParsedConfigFile` is only supported in a Node-like environment.',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('uses the cwd as the default project directory', () => {
+    getParsedConfigFile(mockTsserver, './tsconfig.json');
+    expect(mockGetParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const [_configFileName, _optionsToExtend, host] =
+      mockGetParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile.mock.calls[0];
+    expect(host.getCurrentDirectory()).toBe(process.cwd());
+  });
+
+  it('resolves a relative project directory when passed', () => {
+    getParsedConfigFile(
+      mockTsserver,
+      './tsconfig.json',
+      path.relative('./', path.dirname(__filename)),
+    );
+    expect(mockGetParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const [_configFileName, _optionsToExtend, host] =
+      mockGetParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile.mock.calls[0];
+    expect(host.getCurrentDirectory()).toBe(path.dirname(__filename));
+  });
+
+  it('resolves an absolute project directory when passed', () => {
+    getParsedConfigFile(mockTsserver, './tsconfig.json', __dirname);
+    expect(mockGetParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const [_configFileName, _optionsToExtend, host] =
+      mockGetParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile.mock.calls[0];
+    expect(host.getCurrentDirectory()).toBe(__dirname);
+  });
+
+  it('throws a diagnostic error when getParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile returns an error', () => {
+    mockGetParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile.mockReturnValue({
+      errors: [
+        {
+          category: ts.DiagnosticCategory.Error,
+          code: 1234,
+          file: ts.createSourceFile('./tsconfig.json', '', {
+            languageVersion: ts.ScriptTarget.Latest,
+          }),
+          start: 0,
+          length: 0,
+          messageText: 'Oh no!',
+        },
+      ] satisfies ts.Diagnostic[],
+    });
+    expect(() => getParsedConfigFile(mockTsserver, './tsconfig.json')).toThrow(
+      /.+ error TS1234: Oh no!/,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('throws a diagnostic error when getParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile throws an error', () => {
+    mockGetParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile.mockImplementation(
+      (
+        ...[_configFileName, _optionsToExtend, host]: Parameters<
+          typeof ts.getParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile
+        >
+      ) => {
+        return host.onUnRecoverableConfigFileDiagnostic({
+          category: ts.DiagnosticCategory.Error,
+          code: 1234,
+          file: ts.createSourceFile('./tsconfig.json', '', {
+            languageVersion: ts.ScriptTarget.Latest,
+          }),
+          start: 0,
+          length: 0,
+          messageText: 'Oh no!',
+        } satisfies ts.Diagnostic);
+      },
+    );
+    expect(() => getParsedConfigFile(mockTsserver, './tsconfig.json')).toThrow(
+      /.+ error TS1234: Oh no!/,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('uses compiler options when parsing a config file succeeds', () => {
+    const parsedConfigFile = {
+      options: { strict: true },
+      raw: { compilerOptions: { strict: true } },
+      errors: [],
+    };
+    mockGetParsedCommandLineOfConfigFile.mockReturnValue(parsedConfigFile);
+    expect(getParsedConfigFile(mockTsserver, 'tsconfig.json')).toEqual(
+      expect.objectContaining(parsedConfigFile),
+    );
+  });
+});