diff --git a/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.spec.ts b/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.spec.ts
index bb2aac3b783b3..d92ae3072840e 100644
--- a/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.spec.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ describe('@nrwl/linter:eslint-file', () => {
 
   describe('findEslintFile', () => {
     it('should return default name when calling findEslintFile when no eslint is found', () => {
-      expect(findEslintFile(tree)).toBe('eslintrc.json');
+      expect(findEslintFile(tree)).toBe('.eslintrc.json');
     });
 
     it('should return the name of the eslint config when calling findEslintFile', () => {
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ describe('@nrwl/linter:eslint-file', () => {
     it('should return default name when calling findEslintFile when no eslint is found', () => {
       tree.write('.eslintrc.yaml', '{}');
 
-      expect(findEslintFile(tree)).toBe('eslintrc.json');
+      expect(findEslintFile(tree)).toBe('.eslintrc.json');
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.ts b/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.ts
index c4717c4f0f498..43b4ddecb77e8 100644
--- a/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.ts
+++ b/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.ts
@@ -18,5 +18,5 @@ export function findEslintFile(tree: Tree): string {
     }
   }
   // Default file
-  return 'eslintrc.json';
+  return '.eslintrc.json';
 }