diff --git a/lib/cli.js b/lib/cli.js
index 593c354bc08b..487b03a8b256 100644
--- a/lib/cli.js
+++ b/lib/cli.js
@@ -137,6 +137,18 @@ const cli = {
 
             log.info("v" + require("../package.json").version);
 
+        } else if (currentOptions.printConfig) {
+            if (text) {
+                log.error("The --print-config option is not available for piped-in code.");
+                return 1;
+            }
+
+            const engine = new CLIEngine(translateOptions(currentOptions));
+
+            const fileConfig = engine.getConfigForFile(currentOptions.printConfig);
+
+            log.info(JSON.stringify(fileConfig, null, "  "));
+            return 0;
         } else if (currentOptions.help || (!files.length && !text)) {
 
             log.info(options.generateHelp());
@@ -153,24 +165,6 @@ const cli = {
 
             const engine = new CLIEngine(translateOptions(currentOptions));
 
-            if (currentOptions.printConfig) {
-                if (files.length !== 1) {
-                    log.error("The --print-config option requires a " +
-                        "single file as positional argument.");
-                    return 1;
-                }
-
-                if (text) {
-                    log.error("The --print-config option is not available for piped-in code.");
-                    return 1;
-                }
-
-                const fileConfig = engine.getConfigForFile(files[0]);
-
-                log.info(JSON.stringify(fileConfig, null, "  "));
-                return 0;
-            }
-
             const report = text ? engine.executeOnText(text, currentOptions.stdinFilename, true) : engine.executeOnFiles(files);
 
             if (currentOptions.fix) {
diff --git a/lib/options.js b/lib/options.js
index bbb2456a9804..f9f3f7d071cb 100644
--- a/lib/options.js
+++ b/lib/options.js
@@ -216,8 +216,8 @@ module.exports = optionator({
         },
         {
             option: "print-config",
-            type: "Boolean",
-            description: "Print the configuration to be used"
+            type: "path::String",
+            description: "Print the configuration which would be used for linting a given file (linting will not occur)"
         }
     ]
 });
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 6f818ac9ac0b..f23b017cea84 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
     "lodash": "^4.0.0",
     "mkdirp": "^0.5.0",
     "natural-compare": "^1.4.0",
-    "optionator": "^0.8.1",
+    "optionator": "^0.8.2",
     "path-is-inside": "^1.0.1",
     "pluralize": "^1.2.1",
     "progress": "^1.1.8",
diff --git a/tests/lib/cli.js b/tests/lib/cli.js
index 648863a78ae6..c2e43d9b9119 100644
--- a/tests/lib/cli.js
+++ b/tests/lib/cli.js
@@ -880,17 +880,6 @@ describe("cli", function() {
             assert.equal(exitCode, 0);
         });
 
-        it("should require a single positional file argument", function() {
-            const filePath1 = getFixturePath("files", "bar.js");
-            const filePath2 = getFixturePath("files", "foo.js");
-
-            const exitCode = cli.execute("--print-config " + filePath1 + " " + filePath2);
-
-            assert.isTrue(log.info.notCalled);
-            assert.isTrue(log.error.calledOnce);
-            assert.equal(exitCode, 1);
-        });
-
         it("should error out when executing on text", function() {
             const exitCode = cli.execute("--print-config", "foo = bar;");
 
diff --git a/tests/lib/options.js b/tests/lib/options.js
index 6c1cd4ba2754..3bf7121d8621 100644
--- a/tests/lib/options.js
+++ b/tests/lib/options.js
@@ -359,10 +359,10 @@ describe("options", function() {
     });
 
     describe("--print-config", function() {
-        it("should return true when passed --print-config", function() {
-            const currentOptions = options.parse("--print-config");
+        it("should return file path when passed --print-config", function() {
+            const currentOptions = options.parse("--print-config file.js");
 
-            assert.isTrue(currentOptions.printConfig);
+            assert.strictEqual(currentOptions.printConfig, "file.js");
         });
     });
 });