diff --git a/pylint/config/find_default_config_files.py b/pylint/config/find_default_config_files.py
index 8733794a602..03afa89c905 100644
--- a/pylint/config/find_default_config_files.py
+++ b/pylint/config/find_default_config_files.py
@@ -61,7 +61,10 @@ def _cfg_has_config(path: Path | str) -> bool:
         parser.read(path, encoding="utf-8")
     except configparser.Error:
         return False
-    return any(section.startswith("pylint.") for section in parser.sections())
+    return any(
+        section == "[pylint]" or section.startswith("pylint.")
+        for section in parser.sections()
+    )
 
 
 def _yield_default_files() -> Iterator[Path]: