diff --git a/lib/manager/npm/post-update/index.js b/lib/manager/npm/post-update/index.js
index 2b02d520c3584be1fc9b5b5022782ae9f455c0a5..d662465ff6716832a67d7bb140309d0670b126e0 100644
--- a/lib/manager/npm/post-update/index.js
+++ b/lib/manager/npm/post-update/index.js
@@ -170,12 +170,7 @@ async function writeExistingFiles(config, packageFiles) {
     if (packageFile.npmrc) {
       logger.debug(`Writing .npmrc to ${basedir}`);
       await fs.outputFile(upath.join(basedir, '.npmrc'), packageFile.npmrc);
-    } else if (
-      config.npmrc &&
-      (packageFile.hasYarnLock ||
-        packageFile.hasPackageLock ||
-        config.lernaLockFile)
-    ) {
+    } else if (config.npmrc) {
       logger.debug('Writing repo .npmrc to package file dir');
       await fs.outputFile(upath.join(basedir, '.npmrc'), config.npmrc);
     }