diff --git a/packages/eslint-plugin/src/util/createRule.ts b/packages/eslint-plugin/src/util/createRule.ts
index d6684de5d0d..d56fe6d2a7d 100644
--- a/packages/eslint-plugin/src/util/createRule.ts
+++ b/packages/eslint-plugin/src/util/createRule.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { ESLintUtils } from '@typescript-eslint/experimental-utils';
 
 // note - cannot migrate this to an import statement because it will make TSC copy the package.json to the dist folder
 // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unsafe-assignment
-const version: string = require('../../package.json');
+const version: string = require('../../package.json').version;
 
 export const createRule = ESLintUtils.RuleCreator(
   name =>