diff --git a/Lib/ensurepip/__init__.py b/Lib/ensurepip/__init__.py
index fe51fde..e8d6abe 100644
--- a/Lib/ensurepip/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/ensurepip/__init__.py
@@ -47,13 +47,16 @@
     """
     return _PIP_VERSION
 
-def _clear_pip_environment_variables():
+def _disable_pip_configuration_settings():
     # We deliberately ignore all pip environment variables
     # when invoking pip
     # See http://bugs.python.org/issue19734 for details
     keys_to_remove = [k for k in os.environ if k.startswith("PIP_")]
     for k in keys_to_remove:
         del os.environ[k]
+    # We also ignore the settings in the default pip configuration file
+    # See http://bugs.python.org/issue20053 for details
+    os.environ['PIP_CONFIG_FILE'] = os.devnull
 
 
 def bootstrap(*, root=None, upgrade=False, user=False,
@@ -69,7 +72,7 @@
         raise ValueError("Cannot use altinstall and default_pip together")
 
     _require_ssl_for_pip()
-    _clear_pip_environment_variables()
+    _disable_pip_configuration_settings()
 
     # By default, installing pip and setuptools installs all of the
     # following scripts (X.Y == running Python version):
@@ -130,7 +133,7 @@
         raise RuntimeError(msg.format(pip.__version__, _PIP_VERSION))
 
     _require_ssl_for_pip()
-    _clear_pip_environment_variables()
+    _disable_pip_configuration_settings()
 
     # Construct the arguments to be passed to the pip command
     args = ["uninstall", "-y"]
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_ensurepip.py b/Lib/test/test_ensurepip.py
index 68dd3e2..6ddf8f6 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_ensurepip.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_ensurepip.py
@@ -36,9 +36,11 @@
         self.addCleanup(run_pip_patch.stop)
 
         # Avoid side effects on the actual os module
+        real_devnull = os.devnull
         os_patch = unittest.mock.patch("ensurepip.os")
         patched_os = os_patch.start()
         self.addCleanup(os_patch.stop)
+        patched_os.devnull = real_devnull
         patched_os.path = os.path
         self.os_environ = patched_os.environ = os.environ.copy()
 
@@ -161,6 +163,12 @@
         ensurepip.bootstrap()
         self.assertNotIn("PIP_THIS_SHOULD_GO_AWAY", self.os_environ)
 
+    @requires_usable_pip
+    def test_pip_config_file_disabled(self):
+        # ensurepip deliberately ignores the pip config file
+        # See http://bugs.python.org/issue20053 for details
+        ensurepip.bootstrap()
+        self.assertEqual(self.os_environ["PIP_CONFIG_FILE"], os.devnull)
 
 @contextlib.contextmanager
 def fake_pip(version=ensurepip._PIP_VERSION):
@@ -240,6 +248,14 @@
             ensurepip._uninstall_helper()
         self.assertNotIn("PIP_THIS_SHOULD_GO_AWAY", self.os_environ)
 
+    @requires_usable_pip
+    def test_pip_config_file_disabled(self):
+        # ensurepip deliberately ignores the pip config file
+        # See http://bugs.python.org/issue20053 for details
+        with fake_pip():
+            ensurepip._uninstall_helper()
+        self.assertEqual(self.os_environ["PIP_CONFIG_FILE"], os.devnull)
+
 
 class TestMissingSSL(EnsurepipMixin, unittest.TestCase):
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_venv.py b/Lib/test/test_venv.py
index 3dfed35..6ddbace 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_venv.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_venv.py
@@ -301,16 +301,35 @@
             # that we want to ensure it ignores the normal pip environment
             # variable settings. We set PIP_NO_INSTALL here specifically
             # to check that ensurepip (and hence venv) ignores it.
-            # See http://bugs.python.org/issue19734 for details
+            # See http://bugs.python.org/issue19734
             envvars["PIP_NO_INSTALL"] = "1"
-            try:
-                self.run_with_capture(venv.create, self.env_dir, with_pip=True)
-            except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
-                # The output this produces can be a little hard to read, but
-                # least it has all the details
-                details = exc.output.decode(errors="replace")
-                msg = "{}\n\n**Subprocess Output**\n{}".format(exc, details)
-                self.fail(msg)
+            # Also check that we ignore the pip configuration file
+            # See http://bugs.python.org/issue20053
+            with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as home_dir:
+                envvars["HOME"] = home_dir
+                bad_config = "[global]\nno-install=1"
+                # Write to both config file names on all platforms to reduce
+                # cross-platform variation in test code behaviour
+                win_location = ("pip", "pip.ini")
+                posix_location = (".pip", "pip.conf")
+                for dirname, fname in (win_location, posix_location):
+                    dirpath = os.path.join(home_dir, dirname)
+                    os.mkdir(dirpath)
+                    fpath = os.path.join(dirpath, fname)
+                    with open(fpath, 'w') as f:
+                        f.write(bad_config)
+
+                # Actually run the create command with all that unhelpful
+                # config in place to ensure we ignore it
+                try:
+                    self.run_with_capture(venv.create, self.env_dir,
+                                          with_pip=True)
+                except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
+                    # The output this produces can be a little hard to read,
+                    # but at least it has all the details
+                    details = exc.output.decode(errors="replace")
+                    msg = "{}\n\n**Subprocess Output**\n{}"
+                    self.fail(msg.format(exc, details))
         # Ensure pip is available in the virtual environment
         envpy = os.path.join(os.path.realpath(self.env_dir), self.bindir, self.exe)
         cmd = [envpy, '-Im', 'pip', '--version']
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 91e3b53..4f4243c 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #20053: ensurepip (and hence venv) are no longer affected by the
+  settings in the default pip configuration file.
+
 - Issue #20426: When passing the re.DEBUG flag, re.compile() displays the
   debug output every time it is called, regardless of the compilation cache.