diff --git a/packages/jest-cli/src/cli/args.js b/packages/jest-cli/src/cli/args.js
index 74c95cded96b..aacc6265b864 100644
--- a/packages/jest-cli/src/cli/args.js
+++ b/packages/jest-cli/src/cli/args.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 import type {Argv} from 'types/Argv';
 
+import {isJSONString} from 'jest-config';
 import isCI from 'is-ci';
 
 const check = (argv: Argv) => {
@@ -44,6 +45,17 @@ const check = (argv: Argv) => {
     );
   }
 
+  if (
+    argv.config &&
+    !isJSONString(argv.config) &&
+    !argv.config.match(/\.js(on)?$/)
+  ) {
+    throw new Error(
+      'The --config option requires a JSON string literal, or a file path with a .js or .json extension.\n' +
+        'Example usage: jest --config ./jest.config.js',
+    );
+  }
+
   return true;
 };
 
diff --git a/packages/jest-config/src/index.js b/packages/jest-config/src/index.js
index be077355aa4e..029be103061b 100644
--- a/packages/jest-config/src/index.js
+++ b/packages/jest-config/src/index.js
@@ -36,7 +36,15 @@ function readConfig(
   // A JSON string was passed to `--config` argument and we can parse it
   // and use as is.
   if (isJSONString(argv.config)) {
-    const config = JSON.parse(argv.config);
+    let config;
+    try {
+      config = JSON.parse(argv.config);
+    } catch (e) {
+      throw new Error(
+        'There was an error while parsing the `--config` argument as a JSON string.',
+      );
+    }
+
     // NOTE: we might need to resolve this dir to an absolute path in the future
     config.rootDir = config.rootDir || packageRoot;
     rawOptions = config;
@@ -146,6 +154,7 @@ const getConfigs = (
 
 module.exports = {
   getTestEnvironment,
+  isJSONString,
   normalize,
   readConfig,
 };