diff --git a/packages/nx/src/adapter/ngcli-adapter.ts b/packages/nx/src/adapter/ngcli-adapter.ts
index 4a96ed313a..16fd0f04b1 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/adapter/ngcli-adapter.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/adapter/ngcli-adapter.ts
@@ -507,6 +507,9 @@ export class NxScopedHost extends virtualFs.ScopedHost<any> {
     };
     const projects: [string, any][] = Object.entries(configToWrite.projects);
     for (const [project, projectConfig] of projects) {
+      if (!workspaceFileName) {
+        projectConfig.configFilePath ??= `${projectConfig.root}/project.json`;
+      }
       if (projectConfig.configFilePath) {
         if (workspaceFileName && !isNewFormat) {
           throw new Error(