diff --git a/src/compiler/commandLineParser.ts b/src/compiler/commandLineParser.ts
index 3c4b0577fb6..a200ebf67e0 100644
--- a/src/compiler/commandLineParser.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/commandLineParser.ts
@@ -136,6 +136,13 @@ namespace ts {
             category: Diagnostics.Advanced_Options,
             description: Diagnostics.Show_verbose_diagnostic_information
         },
+        {
+            name: "incremental",
+            shortName: "i",
+            type: "boolean",
+            category: Diagnostics.Basic_Options,
+            description: Diagnostics.Enable_incremental_compilation,
+        },
     ];
 
     /* @internal */
@@ -331,13 +338,6 @@ namespace ts {
             category: Diagnostics.Basic_Options,
             description: Diagnostics.Enable_project_compilation,
         },
-        {
-            name: "incremental",
-            type: "boolean",
-            isTSConfigOnly: true,
-            category: Diagnostics.Basic_Options,
-            description: Diagnostics.Enable_incremental_compilation,
-        },
         {
             name: "tsBuildInfoFile",
             type: "string",
diff --git a/src/compiler/diagnosticMessages.json b/src/compiler/diagnosticMessages.json
index 9ae3e1ca77e..acc9a437ca1 100644
--- a/src/compiler/diagnosticMessages.json
+++ b/src/compiler/diagnosticMessages.json
@@ -3072,6 +3072,10 @@
         "category": "Error",
         "code": 5073
     },
+    "Option '--incremental' can only be speicified when using tsconfig.": {
+        "category": "Error",
+        "code": 5074
+    },
 
     "Generates a sourcemap for each corresponding '.d.ts' file.": {
         "category": "Message",
diff --git a/src/compiler/program.ts b/src/compiler/program.ts
index 979423cdfaa..2d8c4d5e4c3 100644
--- a/src/compiler/program.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/program.ts
@@ -2722,6 +2722,10 @@ namespace ts {
                 createDiagnosticForOptionName(Diagnostics.Option_paths_cannot_be_used_without_specifying_baseUrl_option, "paths");
             }
 
+            if (options.incremental && !options.configFilePath) {
+                programDiagnostics.add(createCompilerDiagnostic(Diagnostics.Option_incremental_can_only_be_speicified_when_using_tsconfig));
+            }
+
             if (options.composite) {
                 if (options.declaration === false) {
                     createDiagnosticForOptionName(Diagnostics.Composite_projects_may_not_disable_declaration_emit, "declaration");
diff --git a/src/compiler/tsbuild.ts b/src/compiler/tsbuild.ts
index cc79c02f1d6..16e6e42272e 100644
--- a/src/compiler/tsbuild.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/tsbuild.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ namespace ts {
         listEmittedFiles?: boolean;
         listFiles?: boolean;
         pretty?: boolean;
+        incremental?: boolean;
 
         traceResolution?: boolean;
         /* @internal */ diagnostics?: boolean;
@@ -363,7 +364,7 @@ namespace ts {
     function getCompilerOptionsOfBuildOptions(buildOptions: BuildOptions): CompilerOptions {
         const result = {} as CompilerOptions;
         commonOptionsWithBuild.forEach(option => {
-            result[option.name] = buildOptions[option.name];
+            if (hasProperty(buildOptions, option.name)) result[option.name] = buildOptions[option.name];
         });
         return result;
     }
diff --git a/src/testRunner/unittests/config/commandLineParsing.ts b/src/testRunner/unittests/config/commandLineParsing.ts
index c5a6c9a4869..33716841b79 100644
--- a/src/testRunner/unittests/config/commandLineParsing.ts
+++ b/src/testRunner/unittests/config/commandLineParsing.ts
@@ -370,16 +370,9 @@ namespace ts {
             // --lib es6 0.ts
             assertParseResult(["--incremental", "0.ts"],
                 {
-                    errors: [{
-                        messageText: "Option 'incremental' can only be specified in 'tsconfig.json' file.",
-                        category: Diagnostics.Option_0_can_only_be_specified_in_tsconfig_json_file.category,
-                        code: Diagnostics.Option_0_can_only_be_specified_in_tsconfig_json_file.code,
-                        file: undefined,
-                        start: undefined,
-                        length: undefined,
-                    }],
+                    errors: [],
                     fileNames: ["0.ts"],
-                    options: {}
+                    options: { incremental: true }
                 });
         });
     });
@@ -477,16 +470,9 @@ namespace ts {
             // --lib es6 0.ts
             assertParseResult(["--incremental", "tests"],
                 {
-                    errors: [{
-                        messageText: "Unknown build option '--incremental'.",
-                        category: Diagnostics.Unknown_build_option_0.category,
-                        code: Diagnostics.Unknown_build_option_0.code,
-                        file: undefined,
-                        start: undefined,
-                        length: undefined,
-                    }],
+                    errors: [],
                     projects: ["tests"],
-                    buildOptions: { }
+                    buildOptions: { incremental: true }
                 });
         });
 
diff --git a/tests/baselines/reference/invalidIncremental.errors.txt b/tests/baselines/reference/invalidIncremental.errors.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6b6382e8f2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/baselines/reference/invalidIncremental.errors.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+error TS5074: Option '--incremental' can only be speicified when using tsconfig.
+
+
+!!! error TS5074: Option '--incremental' can only be speicified when using tsconfig.
+==== tests/cases/compiler/invalidIncremental.ts (0 errors) ====
+    const x = 10;
+    
+    
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/baselines/reference/invalidIncremental.js b/tests/baselines/reference/invalidIncremental.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4798b1d4fa3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/baselines/reference/invalidIncremental.js
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+//// [invalidIncremental.ts]
+const x = 10;
+
+
+
+//// [invalidIncremental.js]
+var x = 10;
diff --git a/tests/baselines/reference/invalidIncremental.symbols b/tests/baselines/reference/invalidIncremental.symbols
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..840f3d76536
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/baselines/reference/invalidIncremental.symbols
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+=== tests/cases/compiler/invalidIncremental.ts ===
+const x = 10;
+>x : Symbol(x, Decl(invalidIncremental.ts, 0, 5))
+
+
diff --git a/tests/baselines/reference/invalidIncremental.types b/tests/baselines/reference/invalidIncremental.types
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2035b6fa749
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/baselines/reference/invalidIncremental.types
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+=== tests/cases/compiler/invalidIncremental.ts ===
+const x = 10;
+>x : 10
+>10 : 10
+
+
diff --git a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Default initialized TSConfig/tsconfig.json b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Default initialized TSConfig/tsconfig.json
index ec795e83e23..8e4ff517186 100644
--- a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Default initialized TSConfig/tsconfig.json	
+++ b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Default initialized TSConfig/tsconfig.json	
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "compilerOptions": {
     /* Basic Options */
+    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     "target": "es5",                          /* Specify ECMAScript target version: 'ES3' (default), 'ES5', 'ES2015', 'ES2016', 'ES2017', 'ES2018', 'ES2019' or 'ESNEXT'. */
     "module": "commonjs",                     /* Specify module code generation: 'none', 'commonjs', 'amd', 'system', 'umd', 'es2015', or 'ESNext'. */
     // "lib": [],                             /* Specify library files to be included in the compilation. */
@@ -14,7 +15,6 @@
     // "outDir": "./",                        /* Redirect output structure to the directory. */
     // "rootDir": "./",                       /* Specify the root directory of input files. Use to control the output directory structure with --outDir. */
     // "composite": true,                     /* Enable project compilation */
-    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     // "tsBuildInfoFile": "./",               /* Specify file to store incremental compilation information */
     // "removeComments": true,                /* Do not emit comments to output. */
     // "noEmit": true,                        /* Do not emit outputs. */
diff --git a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with advanced options/tsconfig.json b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with advanced options/tsconfig.json
index b931fe1745a..7332496971f 100644
--- a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with advanced options/tsconfig.json	
+++ b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with advanced options/tsconfig.json	
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "compilerOptions": {
     /* Basic Options */
+    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     "target": "es5",                          /* Specify ECMAScript target version: 'ES3' (default), 'ES5', 'ES2015', 'ES2016', 'ES2017', 'ES2018', 'ES2019' or 'ESNEXT'. */
     "module": "commonjs",                     /* Specify module code generation: 'none', 'commonjs', 'amd', 'system', 'umd', 'es2015', or 'ESNext'. */
     // "lib": [],                             /* Specify library files to be included in the compilation. */
@@ -14,7 +15,6 @@
     // "outDir": "./",                        /* Redirect output structure to the directory. */
     // "rootDir": "./",                       /* Specify the root directory of input files. Use to control the output directory structure with --outDir. */
     // "composite": true,                     /* Enable project compilation */
-    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     // "tsBuildInfoFile": "./",               /* Specify file to store incremental compilation information */
     // "removeComments": true,                /* Do not emit comments to output. */
     // "noEmit": true,                        /* Do not emit outputs. */
diff --git a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with boolean value compiler options/tsconfig.json b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with boolean value compiler options/tsconfig.json
index 6a437fd4c14..ebf7070cfa4 100644
--- a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with boolean value compiler options/tsconfig.json	
+++ b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with boolean value compiler options/tsconfig.json	
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "compilerOptions": {
     /* Basic Options */
+    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     "target": "es5",                          /* Specify ECMAScript target version: 'ES3' (default), 'ES5', 'ES2015', 'ES2016', 'ES2017', 'ES2018', 'ES2019' or 'ESNEXT'. */
     "module": "commonjs",                     /* Specify module code generation: 'none', 'commonjs', 'amd', 'system', 'umd', 'es2015', or 'ESNext'. */
     // "lib": [],                             /* Specify library files to be included in the compilation. */
@@ -14,7 +15,6 @@
     // "outDir": "./",                        /* Redirect output structure to the directory. */
     // "rootDir": "./",                       /* Specify the root directory of input files. Use to control the output directory structure with --outDir. */
     // "composite": true,                     /* Enable project compilation */
-    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     // "tsBuildInfoFile": "./",               /* Specify file to store incremental compilation information */
     // "removeComments": true,                /* Do not emit comments to output. */
     // "noEmit": true,                        /* Do not emit outputs. */
diff --git a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with enum value compiler options/tsconfig.json b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with enum value compiler options/tsconfig.json
index d1d8d42c433..25f9b39967a 100644
--- a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with enum value compiler options/tsconfig.json	
+++ b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with enum value compiler options/tsconfig.json	
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "compilerOptions": {
     /* Basic Options */
+    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     "target": "es5",                          /* Specify ECMAScript target version: 'ES3' (default), 'ES5', 'ES2015', 'ES2016', 'ES2017', 'ES2018', 'ES2019' or 'ESNEXT'. */
     "module": "commonjs",                     /* Specify module code generation: 'none', 'commonjs', 'amd', 'system', 'umd', 'es2015', or 'ESNext'. */
     // "lib": [],                             /* Specify library files to be included in the compilation. */
@@ -14,7 +15,6 @@
     // "outDir": "./",                        /* Redirect output structure to the directory. */
     // "rootDir": "./",                       /* Specify the root directory of input files. Use to control the output directory structure with --outDir. */
     // "composite": true,                     /* Enable project compilation */
-    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     // "tsBuildInfoFile": "./",               /* Specify file to store incremental compilation information */
     // "removeComments": true,                /* Do not emit comments to output. */
     // "noEmit": true,                        /* Do not emit outputs. */
diff --git a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with files options/tsconfig.json b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with files options/tsconfig.json
index c2bcb1307c1..fc1fb8ec631 100644
--- a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with files options/tsconfig.json	
+++ b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with files options/tsconfig.json	
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "compilerOptions": {
     /* Basic Options */
+    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     "target": "es5",                          /* Specify ECMAScript target version: 'ES3' (default), 'ES5', 'ES2015', 'ES2016', 'ES2017', 'ES2018', 'ES2019' or 'ESNEXT'. */
     "module": "commonjs",                     /* Specify module code generation: 'none', 'commonjs', 'amd', 'system', 'umd', 'es2015', or 'ESNext'. */
     // "lib": [],                             /* Specify library files to be included in the compilation. */
@@ -14,7 +15,6 @@
     // "outDir": "./",                        /* Redirect output structure to the directory. */
     // "rootDir": "./",                       /* Specify the root directory of input files. Use to control the output directory structure with --outDir. */
     // "composite": true,                     /* Enable project compilation */
-    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     // "tsBuildInfoFile": "./",               /* Specify file to store incremental compilation information */
     // "removeComments": true,                /* Do not emit comments to output. */
     // "noEmit": true,                        /* Do not emit outputs. */
diff --git a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with incorrect compiler option value/tsconfig.json b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with incorrect compiler option value/tsconfig.json
index 37c1960d80d..dcff85de986 100644
--- a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with incorrect compiler option value/tsconfig.json	
+++ b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with incorrect compiler option value/tsconfig.json	
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "compilerOptions": {
     /* Basic Options */
+    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     "target": "es5",                          /* Specify ECMAScript target version: 'ES3' (default), 'ES5', 'ES2015', 'ES2016', 'ES2017', 'ES2018', 'ES2019' or 'ESNEXT'. */
     "module": "commonjs",                     /* Specify module code generation: 'none', 'commonjs', 'amd', 'system', 'umd', 'es2015', or 'ESNext'. */
     "lib": ["es5","es2015.promise"],          /* Specify library files to be included in the compilation. */
@@ -14,7 +15,6 @@
     // "outDir": "./",                        /* Redirect output structure to the directory. */
     // "rootDir": "./",                       /* Specify the root directory of input files. Use to control the output directory structure with --outDir. */
     // "composite": true,                     /* Enable project compilation */
-    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     // "tsBuildInfoFile": "./",               /* Specify file to store incremental compilation information */
     // "removeComments": true,                /* Do not emit comments to output. */
     // "noEmit": true,                        /* Do not emit outputs. */
diff --git a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with incorrect compiler option/tsconfig.json b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with incorrect compiler option/tsconfig.json
index ec795e83e23..8e4ff517186 100644
--- a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with incorrect compiler option/tsconfig.json	
+++ b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with incorrect compiler option/tsconfig.json	
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "compilerOptions": {
     /* Basic Options */
+    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     "target": "es5",                          /* Specify ECMAScript target version: 'ES3' (default), 'ES5', 'ES2015', 'ES2016', 'ES2017', 'ES2018', 'ES2019' or 'ESNEXT'. */
     "module": "commonjs",                     /* Specify module code generation: 'none', 'commonjs', 'amd', 'system', 'umd', 'es2015', or 'ESNext'. */
     // "lib": [],                             /* Specify library files to be included in the compilation. */
@@ -14,7 +15,6 @@
     // "outDir": "./",                        /* Redirect output structure to the directory. */
     // "rootDir": "./",                       /* Specify the root directory of input files. Use to control the output directory structure with --outDir. */
     // "composite": true,                     /* Enable project compilation */
-    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     // "tsBuildInfoFile": "./",               /* Specify file to store incremental compilation information */
     // "removeComments": true,                /* Do not emit comments to output. */
     // "noEmit": true,                        /* Do not emit outputs. */
diff --git a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with list compiler options with enum value/tsconfig.json b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with list compiler options with enum value/tsconfig.json
index bc24243c11f..112be7a95f9 100644
--- a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with list compiler options with enum value/tsconfig.json	
+++ b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with list compiler options with enum value/tsconfig.json	
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "compilerOptions": {
     /* Basic Options */
+    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     "target": "es5",                          /* Specify ECMAScript target version: 'ES3' (default), 'ES5', 'ES2015', 'ES2016', 'ES2017', 'ES2018', 'ES2019' or 'ESNEXT'. */
     "module": "commonjs",                     /* Specify module code generation: 'none', 'commonjs', 'amd', 'system', 'umd', 'es2015', or 'ESNext'. */
     "lib": ["es5","es2015.core"],             /* Specify library files to be included in the compilation. */
@@ -14,7 +15,6 @@
     // "outDir": "./",                        /* Redirect output structure to the directory. */
     // "rootDir": "./",                       /* Specify the root directory of input files. Use to control the output directory structure with --outDir. */
     // "composite": true,                     /* Enable project compilation */
-    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     // "tsBuildInfoFile": "./",               /* Specify file to store incremental compilation information */
     // "removeComments": true,                /* Do not emit comments to output. */
     // "noEmit": true,                        /* Do not emit outputs. */
diff --git a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with list compiler options/tsconfig.json b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with list compiler options/tsconfig.json
index 1c16ed11416..4c4b740a122 100644
--- a/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with list compiler options/tsconfig.json	
+++ b/tests/baselines/reference/tsConfig/Initialized TSConfig with list compiler options/tsconfig.json	
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "compilerOptions": {
     /* Basic Options */
+    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     "target": "es5",                          /* Specify ECMAScript target version: 'ES3' (default), 'ES5', 'ES2015', 'ES2016', 'ES2017', 'ES2018', 'ES2019' or 'ESNEXT'. */
     "module": "commonjs",                     /* Specify module code generation: 'none', 'commonjs', 'amd', 'system', 'umd', 'es2015', or 'ESNext'. */
     // "lib": [],                             /* Specify library files to be included in the compilation. */
@@ -14,7 +15,6 @@
     // "outDir": "./",                        /* Redirect output structure to the directory. */
     // "rootDir": "./",                       /* Specify the root directory of input files. Use to control the output directory structure with --outDir. */
     // "composite": true,                     /* Enable project compilation */
-    // "incremental": true,                   /* Enable incremental compilation */
     // "tsBuildInfoFile": "./",               /* Specify file to store incremental compilation information */
     // "removeComments": true,                /* Do not emit comments to output. */
     // "noEmit": true,                        /* Do not emit outputs. */
diff --git a/tests/cases/compiler/invalidIncremental.ts b/tests/cases/compiler/invalidIncremental.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4a7c3e72de9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/cases/compiler/invalidIncremental.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+// @incremental: true
+
+const x = 10;
+