diff --git a/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.spec.ts b/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.spec.ts
index 69f0859ae3f6a4..0556f3c56a2574 100644
--- a/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.spec.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import {
   baseEsLintConfigFile,
   eslintConfigFileWhitelist,
   findEslintFile,
+  lintConfigHasOverride,
 } from './eslint-file';
 
 import { Tree } from '@nx/devkit';
@@ -36,4 +37,40 @@ describe('@nx/linter:eslint-file', () => {
       }
     );
   });
+
+  describe('lintConfigHasOverride', () => {
+    it('should return true when override exists in eslintrc format', () => {
+      tree.write(
+        '.eslintrc.json',
+        '{"overrides": [{ "files": ["*.ts"], "rules": {} }]}'
+      );
+      expect(
+        lintConfigHasOverride(
+          tree,
+          '.',
+          (o) => {
+            return o.files?.includes('*.ts');
+          },
+          false
+        )
+      ).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it('should return false when eslintrc is not in JSON format', () => {
+      tree.write(
+        '.eslintrc.js',
+        'module.exports = {overrides: [{ files: ["*.ts"], rules: {} }]};'
+      );
+      expect(
+        lintConfigHasOverride(
+          tree,
+          '.',
+          (o) => {
+            return o.files?.includes('*.ts');
+          },
+          false
+        )
+      ).toBe(false);
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.ts b/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.ts
index b4c06b5384d537..084e69a9322d93 100644
--- a/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.ts
+++ b/packages/linter/src/generators/utils/eslint-file.ts
@@ -247,7 +247,10 @@ export function lintConfigHasOverride(
       root,
       isBase ? baseEsLintConfigFile : '.eslintrc.json'
     );
-    return readJson(tree, fileName).overrides?.some(lookup) || false;
+
+    return tree.exists(fileName)
+      ? readJson(tree, fileName).overrides?.some(lookup) || false
+      : false;
   }
 }