diff --git a/nvm.sh b/nvm.sh
index ce84b0ea..6b1d6eaf 100755
--- a/nvm.sh
+++ b/nvm.sh
@@ -41,7 +41,13 @@ nvm_echo_with_colors() {
 }
 
 nvm_cd() {
-  \cd "$@"
+  # `\cd` still runs a user-defined `cd` function; in zsh, `command cd` runs `/usr/bin/cd` instead of the builtin
+  if [ -n "${ZSH_VERSION-}" ]; then
+    # shellcheck disable=SC3044
+    builtin cd "$@"
+  else
+    command cd "$@"
+  fi
 }
 
 # a caller that closed stderr, rather than redirecting it to /dev/null, makes
@@ -3516,7 +3522,7 @@ nvm_die_on_prefix() {
     local NVM_CONFIG_VALUE
     eval "NVM_CONFIG_VALUE=\"\$${NVM_NPM_CONFIG_x_PREFIX_ENV}\""
     if [ -n "${NVM_CONFIG_VALUE-}" ] && [ "_${NVM_OS}" = "_win" ]; then
-      NVM_CONFIG_VALUE="$(cd "$NVM_CONFIG_VALUE" 2>/dev/null && pwd)"
+      NVM_CONFIG_VALUE="$(nvm_cd "$NVM_CONFIG_VALUE" 2>/dev/null && pwd)"
     fi
     if [ -n "${NVM_CONFIG_VALUE-}" ] && ! nvm_tree_contains_path "${NVM_DIR}" "${NVM_CONFIG_VALUE}"; then
       nvm deactivate >/dev/null 2>&1
diff --git a/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm_cd b/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm_cd
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..aa7f457d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm_cd	
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+die () { echo "$@" ; exit 1; }
+
+: nvm.sh
+\. ../../../nvm.sh
+
+EXPECTED="$(\cd .. && pwd)"
+
+# a user-defined `cd` function that rejects nvm's arguments, like cdhist's (#3835)
+cd() {
+  echo 'user-defined cd function was called' >&2
+  return 1
+}
+
+OUTPUT="$(nvm_cd .. 2>&1 && pwd)"
+[ "${OUTPUT}" = "${EXPECTED}" ] || die "expected '${EXPECTED}', got '${OUTPUT}'"
+
+# shellcheck disable=SC2086
+OUTPUT="$(nvm_cd ${NVM_CD_FLAGS} .. 2>&1 && pwd)"
+[ "${OUTPUT}" = "${EXPECTED}" ] || die "with NVM_CD_FLAGS '${NVM_CD_FLAGS}', expected '${EXPECTED}', got '${OUTPUT}'"
+
+unset -f cd