diff --git a/lib/workers/branch/lock-files.js b/lib/workers/branch/lock-files.js
index 133139acf097f46fde09b6f49190d40babbef07a..16ff2d38a46b53413782d667eab6d1b32e21b55e 100644
--- a/lib/workers/branch/lock-files.js
+++ b/lib/workers/branch/lock-files.js
@@ -262,7 +262,9 @@ async function writeExistingFiles(config) {
       await fs.outputFile(upath.join(basedir, '.npmrc'), packageFile.npmrc);
     } else if (
       config.npmrc &&
-      (packageFile.hasYarnLock || packageFile.hasPackageLock)
+      (packageFile.hasYarnLock ||
+        packageFile.hasPackageLock ||
+        config.lernaLockFile)
     ) {
       logger.debug('Writing repo .npmrc to package file dir');
       await fs.outputFile(upath.join(basedir, '.npmrc'), config.npmrc);