diff --git a/BUILD.bazel b/BUILD.bazel
index 3d5e3723b0..9be5ebad98 100644
--- a/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/BUILD.bazel
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ pkg_npm(
     ],
     # Don't rename BUILD files as this package is not published to npm
     # but is compressed in "release" below and published as a .tar.gz to GitHub
-    rename_build_files = False,
+    hide_build_files = False,
     # Don't replace the default 0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER for this pkg_npm since
     # we are packaging up the packager itself and this replacement will break it
     replace_with_version = "",
diff --git a/internal/pkg_npm/packager.js b/internal/pkg_npm/packager.js
index 3a49c08235..0f12a54782 100644
--- a/internal/pkg_npm/packager.js
+++ b/internal/pkg_npm/packager.js
@@ -60,9 +60,9 @@ function main(args) {
   args = fs.readFileSync(args[0], {encoding: 'utf-8'}).split('\n').map(unquoteArgs);
   const
       [outDir, baseDir, srcsArg, binDir, genDir, depsArg, packagesArg, substitutionsArg, packPath,
-       publishPath, replaceWithVersion, stampFile, vendorExternalArg, renameBuildFilesArg,
+       publishPath, replaceWithVersion, stampFile, vendorExternalArg, hideBuildFilesArg,
        runNpmTemplatePath] = args;
-  const renameBuildFiles = parseInt(renameBuildFilesArg);
+  const renameBuildFiles = parseInt(hideBuildFilesArg);
 
   const substitutions = [
     // Strip content between BEGIN-INTERNAL / END-INTERNAL comments
diff --git a/internal/pkg_npm/pkg_npm.bzl b/internal/pkg_npm/pkg_npm.bzl
index b531adab4c..c626352112 100644
--- a/internal/pkg_npm/pkg_npm.bzl
+++ b/internal/pkg_npm/pkg_npm.bzl
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ def create_package(ctx, deps_sources, nested_packages):
     args.add(ctx.attr.replace_with_version)
     args.add(ctx.version_file.path if stamp else "")
     args.add_joined(ctx.attr.vendor_external, join_with = ",", omit_if_empty = False)
-    args.add("1" if ctx.attr.rename_build_files else "0")
+    args.add("1" if ctx.attr.hide_build_files else "0")
 
     # require.resolve expects the path to start with the workspace name and not "external"
     run_npm_template_path = strip_external(ctx.file._run_npm_template.path)
@@ -123,6 +123,16 @@ PKG_NPM_ATTRS = {
         doc = """Files inside this directory which are simply copied into the package.""",
         allow_files = True,
     ),
+    "hide_build_files": attr.bool(
+        doc = """If set BUILD and BUILD.bazel files are prefixed with `_` in the npm package.
+        The default is True since npm packages that contain BUILD files don't work with
+        `yarn_install` and `npm_install` without a post-install step that deletes or renames them.
+
+        NB: Bazel has a change in https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/pull/10261
+        (expected in version 2.1) that adds .bazelignore
+        support for external repositories, which will make this attribute obsolete.""",
+        default = True,
+    ),
     "nested_packages": attr.label_list(
         doc = """Other pkg_npm rules whose content is copied into this package.""",
         allow_files = True,
@@ -132,12 +142,6 @@ PKG_NPM_ATTRS = {
         providers = [NodeContextInfo],
         doc = "Internal use only",
     ),
-    "rename_build_files": attr.bool(
-        doc = """If set BUILD and BUILD.bazel files are prefixed with `_` in the npm package.
-        The default is True since npm packages that contain BUILD files don't work with
-        `yarn_install` and `npm_install` without a post-install step that deletes or renames them.""",
-        default = True,
-    ),
     "replace_with_version": attr.string(
         doc = """If set this value is replaced with the version stamp data.
         See the section on stamping in the README.""",