diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-eslint/lint.js b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-eslint/lint.js
index 6d06564dec..bb40f3bec1 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-eslint/lint.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-eslint/lint.js
@@ -15,21 +15,35 @@ const renamedArgs = {
   config: 'configFile'
 }
 
+const defaultFilesToLint = [
+  'src',
+  'tests',
+  // root config files
+  '*.js',
+  // .eslintrc files (ignored by default)
+  '.*.js',
+  '{src,tests}/**/.*.js'
+]
+
 module.exports = function lint (args = {}, api) {
   const path = require('path')
   const cwd = api.resolve('.')
   const { CLIEngine } = require('eslint')
   const { log, done, exit, chalk } = require('@vue/cli-shared-utils')
-
-  const files = args._ && args._.length ? args._ : ['src', 'tests', '*.js', '.*.js']
   const extensions = require('./eslintOptions').extensions(api)
+
   const argsConfig = normalizeConfig(args)
   const config = Object.assign({
     extensions,
     fix: true,
     cwd
   }, argsConfig)
+
   const engine = new CLIEngine(config)
+  const files = args._ && args._.length
+    ? args._
+    : defaultFilesToLint
+
   const report = engine.executeOnFiles(files)
   const formatter = engine.getFormatter(args.format || 'codeframe')