diff --git a/lib/manager/gradle/index.ts b/lib/manager/gradle/index.ts
index 51505fd88a53302dbcaadb2111a4443321788015..b3ff818c5eaa6eb7308d353fd93c073d4a214021 100644
--- a/lib/manager/gradle/index.ts
+++ b/lib/manager/gradle/index.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export const language = ProgrammingLanguage.Java;
 export const defaultConfig = {
   fileMatch: [
     '\\.gradle(\\.kts)?$',
-    '(^|/)gradle.properties$',
+    '(^|\\/)gradle\\.properties$',
     '(^|\\/)gradle\\/.+\\.toml$',
     '\\.versions\\.toml$',
   ],