diff --git a/builtin.cpp b/builtin.cpp
index d230080a4e3d..d01322e21aef 100644
--- a/builtin.cpp
+++ b/builtin.cpp
@@ -3014,7 +3014,7 @@ static int builtin_source(parser_t &parser, wchar_t ** argv)
         if ((fd = wopen_cloexec(argv[1], O_RDONLY)) == -1)
         {
             append_format(stderr_buffer, _(L"%ls: Error encountered while sourcing file '%ls':\n"), argv[0], argv[1]);
-            builtin_wperror(L".");
+            builtin_wperror(L"source");
             return STATUS_BUILTIN_ERROR;
         }
 
@@ -3022,7 +3022,7 @@ static int builtin_source(parser_t &parser, wchar_t ** argv)
         {
             close(fd);
             append_format(stderr_buffer, _(L"%ls: Error encountered while sourcing file '%ls':\n"), argv[0], argv[1]);
-            builtin_wperror(L".");
+            builtin_wperror(L"source");
             return STATUS_BUILTIN_ERROR;
         }
 
@@ -3953,7 +3953,6 @@ static int builtin_history(parser_t &parser, wchar_t **argv)
 */
 static const builtin_data_t builtin_datas[]=
 {
-    { 		L".",  &builtin_source, N_(L"Evaluate contents of file")   },
     { 		L"[",  &builtin_test, N_(L"Test a condition")   },
     { 		L"and",  &builtin_generic, N_(L"Execute command if previous command suceeded")  },
     { 		L"begin",  &builtin_begin, N_(L"Create a block of code")   },
@@ -3993,6 +3992,7 @@ static const builtin_data_t builtin_datas[]=
     { 		L"return",  &builtin_return, N_(L"Stop the currently evaluated function")   },
     { 		L"set",  &builtin_set, N_(L"Handle environment variables")   },
     { 		L"set_color",  &builtin_set_color, N_(L"Set the terminal color")   },
+    { 		L"source",  &builtin_source, N_(L"Evaluate contents of file")   },
     { 		L"status",  &builtin_status, N_(L"Return status information about fish")  },
     { 		L"switch",  &builtin_switch, N_(L"Conditionally execute a block of commands")   },
     { 		L"test",  &builtin_test, N_(L"Test a condition")   },
diff --git a/fish.cpp b/fish.cpp
index fda24360cec9..2251d8ecb311 100644
--- a/fish.cpp
+++ b/fish.cpp
@@ -217,8 +217,8 @@ static int read_init(const struct config_paths_t &paths)
 {
     parser_t &parser = parser_t::principal_parser();
     const io_chain_t empty_ios;
-    parser.eval(L"builtin . " + paths.data + L"/config.fish 2>/dev/null", empty_ios, TOP);
-    parser.eval(L"builtin . " + paths.sysconf + L"/config.fish 2>/dev/null", empty_ios, TOP);
+    parser.eval(L"builtin source " + paths.data + L"/config.fish 2>/dev/null", empty_ios, TOP);
+    parser.eval(L"builtin source " + paths.sysconf + L"/config.fish 2>/dev/null", empty_ios, TOP);
 
 
     /*
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ static int read_init(const struct config_paths_t &paths)
     if (path_get_config(config_dir))
     {
         wcstring config_dir_escaped = escape_string(config_dir, 1);
-        wcstring eval_buff = format_string(L"builtin . %ls/config.fish 2>/dev/null", config_dir_escaped.c_str());
+        wcstring eval_buff = format_string(L"builtin source %ls/config.fish 2>/dev/null", config_dir_escaped.c_str());
         parser.eval(eval_buff, empty_ios, TOP);
     }
 
diff --git a/share/config.fish b/share/config.fish
index 056fd34f7971..e0b07bf9e90d 100644
--- a/share/config.fish
+++ b/share/config.fish
@@ -109,3 +109,16 @@ function __fish_on_interactive --on-event fish_prompt
 	functions -e __fish_on_interactive
 end
 
+# "." command for compatibility with old fish versions.
+function . --description 'Evaluate contents of file (deprecated, see "source")'
+	if begin
+			test (count $argv) -eq 0
+			# Uses tty directly, as isatty depends on "."
+			and tty 0>&0 >/dev/null
+		end
+		echo "source: '.' command is deprecated, and doesn't work with STDIN anymore. Did you mean 'source' or './'?" >&2
+		return 1
+	else
+		source $argv
+	end
+end