diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectBuilder.java b/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectBuilder.java
index 144347c40a5b..a8985c7c9961 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectBuilder.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectBuilder.java
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.Strings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Setting;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ToXContent;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.json.JsonXContent;
 import org.elasticsearch.env.Environment;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.XPackPlugin;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.ml.calendars.ScheduledEvent;
@@ -63,7 +66,9 @@ public class AutodetectBuilder {
     public static final String QUANTILES_STATE_PATH_ARG = "--quantilesState=";
 
     private static final String CONF_EXTENSION = ".conf";
+    private static final String JSON_EXTENSION = ".json";
     static final String JOB_ID_ARG = "--jobid=";
+    private static final String CONFIG_ARG = "--config=";
     private static final String LIMIT_CONFIG_ARG = "--limitconfig=";
     private static final String MODEL_PLOT_CONFIG_ARG = "--modelplotconfig=";
     private static final String FIELD_CONFIG_ARG = "--fieldconfig=";
@@ -173,11 +178,20 @@ public void build() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
 
         List<String> command = buildAutodetectCommand();
 
+        // While it may appear that the JSON formatted job config file contains data that
+        // is duplicated in the existing limits, modelPlot and field config files, over time
+        // the C++ backend will retrieve all its required configuration data from the new
+        // JSON config file and the old-style configuration files will be removed.
+        buildJobConfig(command);
+
+        // Per the comment above, these three lines will eventually be removed once migration
+        // to the new JSON formatted configuration file has been completed.
         buildLimits(command);
         buildModelPlotConfig(command);
+        buildFieldConfig(command);
 
         buildQuantiles(command);
-        buildFieldConfig(command);
+
         processPipes.addArgs(command);
         controller.startProcess(command);
     }
@@ -350,4 +364,17 @@ private void buildFieldConfig(List<String> command) throws IOException {
             command.add(fieldConfig);
         }
     }
+
+    private void buildJobConfig(List<String> command) throws IOException {
+        Path configFile = Files.createTempFile(env.tmpFile(), "config", JSON_EXTENSION);
+        filesToDelete.add(configFile);
+        try (OutputStreamWriter osw = new OutputStreamWriter(Files.newOutputStream(configFile),StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+            XContentBuilder jsonBuilder = JsonXContent.contentBuilder()) {
+
+            job.toXContent(jsonBuilder, ToXContent.EMPTY_PARAMS);
+            osw.write(Strings.toString(jsonBuilder));
+        }
+
+        command.add(CONFIG_ARG + configFile.toString());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectBuilderTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectBuilderTests.java
index debbdb222f48..87cd751e548a 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectBuilderTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectBuilderTests.java
@@ -19,14 +19,21 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.ml.process.NativeController;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.ml.process.ProcessPipes;
 import org.junit.Before;
+import org.mockito.ArgumentCaptor;
 
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.ml.job.config.JobTests.buildJobBuilder;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasItem;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasSize;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.matchesPattern;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verifyNoMoreInteractions;
 
 public class AutodetectBuilderTests extends ESTestCase {
 
@@ -36,11 +43,14 @@ public class AutodetectBuilderTests extends ESTestCase {
     private Settings settings;
     private NativeController nativeController;
     private ProcessPipes processPipes;
+    private ArgumentCaptor<List<String>> commandCaptor;
 
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     @Before
     public void setUpTests() {
         logger = mock(Logger.class);
-        filesToDelete = Collections.emptyList();
+        filesToDelete = new ArrayList<>();
+        commandCaptor = ArgumentCaptor.forClass((Class)List.class);
         settings = Settings.builder().put(Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.getKey(), createTempDir().toString()).build();
         env = TestEnvironment.newEnvironment(settings);
         nativeController = mock(NativeController.class);
@@ -126,4 +136,18 @@ public void testBuildAutodetectCommand_givenPersistModelState() {
     private AutodetectBuilder autodetectBuilder(Job job) {
         return new AutodetectBuilder(job, filesToDelete, logger, env, settings, nativeController, processPipes);
     }
+
+    public void testBuildAutodetect() throws Exception {
+        Job.Builder job = buildJobBuilder("unit-test-job");
+
+        autodetectBuilder(job.build()).build();
+
+        assertThat(filesToDelete, hasSize(3));
+
+        verify(nativeController).startProcess(commandCaptor.capture());
+        verifyNoMoreInteractions(nativeController);
+
+        List<String> command = commandCaptor.getValue();
+        assertThat(command, hasItem(matchesPattern("--config=.*\\.json")));
+    }
 }