diff --git a/.markdown-lint.yml b/.markdown-lint.yml
index 25c867058e..55e17e20e4 100644
--- a/.markdown-lint.yml
+++ b/.markdown-lint.yml
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 #   <!-- markdownlint-restore -->
 #
 
+default: true
+
 ###############
 # Rules by id #
 ###############
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7799800d17..e35ad7ab33 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
     "test:lighthouse": "npx lighthouse http://localhost:8080/patterns/pages-sample-page/pages-sample-page.rendered.html --budget-path=.lighthouse-budget.json --view",
     "test:webhint": "npx hint http://localhost:8080/styleguide/html/styleguide.html",
     "lint": "npm-run-all -p lint:*",
-    "lint:markdownlint": "markdownlint -c .markdown-lint.yml **/*.md",
+    "lint:markdownlint": "markdownlint -c .markdown-lint.yml '**/*.md'",
     "lint:stylelint": "stylelint **/*.scss",
     "lint:xo": "xo",
     "lint:html": "npm-run-all pl:build:* lint:html:standalone",