diff --git a/src/runner.ts b/src/runner.ts
index 427f361de18..ac5e9ee38be 100644
--- a/src/runner.ts
+++ b/src/runner.ts
@@ -146,11 +146,12 @@ export class Runner {
         let program: ts.Program | undefined;
 
         if (this.options.project != null) {
-            if (!fs.existsSync(this.options.project)) {
+            const project = findTsconfig(this.options.project);
+            if (project === undefined) {
                 console.error("Invalid option for project: " + this.options.project);
                 return onComplete(1);
             }
-            program = Linter.createProgram(this.options.project);
+            program = Linter.createProgram(project);
             if (files.length === 0) {
                 files = Linter.getFileNames(program);
             }
@@ -175,9 +176,6 @@ export class Runner {
                 // if not type checking, we don't need to pass in a program object
                 program = undefined;
             }
-        } else if (this.options.typeCheck) {
-            console.error("--project must be specified in order to enable type checking.");
-            return onComplete(1);
         }
 
         let ignorePatterns: string[] = [];
@@ -257,3 +255,16 @@ export class Runner {
         });
     }
 }
+
+function findTsconfig(project: string): string | undefined {
+    try {
+        const stats = fs.statSync(project); // throws if file does not exist
+        if (stats.isDirectory()) {
+            project = path.join(project, "tsconfig.json");
+            fs.accessSync(project); // throws if file does not exist
+        }
+    } catch (e) {
+        return undefined;
+    }
+    return project;
+}
diff --git a/src/tslint-cli.ts b/src/tslint-cli.ts
index b53d4995e17..79585133537 100644
--- a/src/tslint-cli.ts
+++ b/src/tslint-cli.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,12 @@ const processed = optimist
             throw "Missing files";
         }
 
+        // tslint:disable-next-line strict-boolean-expressions
+        if (argv["type-check"] && !argv.project) {
+            // tslint:disable-next-line:no-string-throw
+            throw "--project must be specified in order to enable type checking.";
+        }
+
         // tslint:disable-next-line strict-boolean-expressions
         if (argv.f) {
             // throw a string, otherwise a call stack is printed for this message
@@ -214,7 +220,7 @@ tslint accepts the following commandline options:
         this can be used to test custom rules.
 
     -p, --project:
-        The location of a tsconfig.json file that will be used to determine which
+        The path or directory containing a tsconfig.json file that will be used to determine which
         files will be linted.
 
     --type-check
diff --git a/test/executable/executableTests.ts b/test/executable/executableTests.ts
index b11046416e4..9e7db3b1ca2 100644
--- a/test/executable/executableTests.ts
+++ b/test/executable/executableTests.ts
@@ -251,6 +251,29 @@ describe("Executable", function(this: Mocha.ISuiteCallbackContext) {
             });
         });
 
+        it("can be passed a directory and defaults to tsconfig.json", (done) => {
+            execCli(["-c", "test/files/tsconfig-test/tslint.json", "--project", "test/files/tsconfig-test"], (err) => {
+                assert.isNull(err, "process should exit without an error");
+                done();
+            });
+        });
+
+        it("exits with error if passed a directory and there is not tsconfig.json", (done) => {
+            execCli(["-c", "test/files/tsconfig-test/tslint.json", "--project", "test/files"], (err) => {
+                assert.isNotNull(err, "process should exit with an error");
+                assert.strictEqual(err.code, 1, "error code should be 1");
+                done();
+            });
+        });
+
+        it("exits with error if passed directory does not exist", (done) => {
+            execCli(["-c", "test/files/tsconfig-test/tslint.json", "--project", "test/files/non-existant"], (err) => {
+                assert.isNotNull(err, "process should exit with an error");
+                assert.strictEqual(err.code, 1, "error code should be 1");
+                done();
+            });
+        });
+
         it("exits with code 2 if both `tsconfig.json` and files arguments are passed and files contain lint errors", (done) => {
             execCli(
                 [