diff --git a/src/compiler/commandLineParser.ts b/src/compiler/commandLineParser.ts
index a2dac4e7d33..ecc69fccf86 100644
--- a/src/compiler/commandLineParser.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/commandLineParser.ts
@@ -1846,7 +1846,14 @@ namespace ts {
                     const hasReferences = hasProperty(raw, "references") && !isNullOrUndefined(raw.references);
                     const hasZeroOrNoReferences = !hasReferences || raw.references.length === 0;
                     if (filesSpecs.length === 0 && hasZeroOrNoReferences) {
-                        errors.push(createCompilerDiagnostic(Diagnostics.The_files_list_in_config_file_0_is_empty, configFileName || "tsconfig.json"));
+                        if (sourceFile) {
+                            const nodeValue = firstDefined(getTsConfigPropArray(sourceFile, "files"), property => property.initializer);
+                            const error = createDiagnosticForNodeInSourceFile(sourceFile, nodeValue!, Diagnostics.The_files_list_in_config_file_0_is_empty, configFileName || "tsconfig.json");
+                            errors.push(error);
+                        }
+                        else {
+                            createCompilerDiagnosticOnlyIfJson(Diagnostics.The_files_list_in_config_file_0_is_empty, configFileName || "tsconfig.json");
+                        }
                     }
                 }
                 else {
diff --git a/src/testRunner/unittests/tsconfigParsing.ts b/src/testRunner/unittests/tsconfigParsing.ts
index c2e8f0eb10d..6909e260d2a 100644
--- a/src/testRunner/unittests/tsconfigParsing.ts
+++ b/src/testRunner/unittests/tsconfigParsing.ts
@@ -290,8 +290,7 @@ namespace ts {
                 "/apath/tsconfig.json",
                 "tests/cases/unittests",
                 ["/apath/a.ts"],
-                Diagnostics.The_files_list_in_config_file_0_is_empty.code,
-                /*noLocation*/ true);
+                Diagnostics.The_files_list_in_config_file_0_is_empty.code);
         });
 
         it("generates errors for empty files list when no references are provided", () => {
@@ -303,8 +302,7 @@ namespace ts {
                 "/apath/tsconfig.json",
                 "tests/cases/unittests",
                 ["/apath/a.ts"],
-                Diagnostics.The_files_list_in_config_file_0_is_empty.code,
-                /*noLocation*/ true);
+                Diagnostics.The_files_list_in_config_file_0_is_empty.code);
         });
 
         it("does not generate errors for empty files list when one or more references are provided", () => {