diff --git a/e2e/node.test.ts b/e2e/node.test.ts
index 2be47b55a13e6..b79d48726c270 100644
--- a/e2e/node.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/node.test.ts
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ forEachCli(currentCLIName => {
       ); // respects "extends" inside tsconfigs
 
       expect(config.options.emitDecoratorMetadata).toEqual(true); // required by nest to function properly
+      expect(config.options.target).toEqual(ts.ScriptTarget.ES2015); // required by nest swagger to function properly
       cleanup();
     }, 120000);
 
diff --git a/packages/nest/src/schematics/application/application.spec.ts b/packages/nest/src/schematics/application/application.spec.ts
index fe169a3c8bf92..2a61bcdd13c32 100644
--- a/packages/nest/src/schematics/application/application.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/nest/src/schematics/application/application.spec.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { Tree } from '@angular-devkit/schematics';
 import { createEmptyWorkspace } from '@nrwl/workspace/testing';
 import { runSchematic } from '../../utils/testing';
+import { readJsonInTree } from '@nrwl/workspace';
 
 describe('app', () => {
   let appTree: Tree;
@@ -17,4 +18,10 @@ describe('app', () => {
     );
     expect(tree.exists('apps/my-node-app/src/app/app.module.ts')).toBeTruthy();
   });
+
+  it('should have es2015 as the tsconfig target', async () => {
+    const tree = await runSchematic('app', { name: 'myNodeApp' }, appTree);
+    const tsconfig = readJsonInTree(tree, 'apps/my-node-app/tsconfig.json');
+    expect(tsconfig.compilerOptions.target).toBe('es2015');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/nest/src/schematics/application/application.ts b/packages/nest/src/schematics/application/application.ts
index 9fe2035bda284..e77b34b5d63d3 100644
--- a/packages/nest/src/schematics/application/application.ts
+++ b/packages/nest/src/schematics/application/application.ts
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ export default function(schema: Schema): Rule {
       addAppFiles(options),
       updateJsonInTree(join(options.appProjectRoot, 'tsconfig.json'), json => {
         json.compilerOptions.emitDecoratorMetadata = true;
+        json.compilerOptions.target = 'es2015';
         return json;
       }),
       formatFiles(options)