diff --git a/brownie/network/rpc/hardhat.py b/brownie/network/rpc/hardhat.py
index a7cad98aa..771b0bed0 100644
--- a/brownie/network/rpc/hardhat.py
+++ b/brownie/network/rpc/hardhat.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import sys
 import warnings
+from pathlib import Path
 from subprocess import DEVNULL, PIPE
 from typing import Dict, List, Optional
 
@@ -38,6 +39,12 @@ def launch(cmd: str, **kwargs: Dict) -> None:
     print(f"\nLaunching '{' '.join(cmd_list)}'...")
     out = DEVNULL if sys.platform == "win32" else PIPE
 
+    # required so hardhat considers the folder to be a hardhat project
+    # once hardhat network releases, we should be able to remove
+    hardhat_config = Path("hardhat.config.js")
+    if not hardhat_config.exists():
+        hardhat_config.touch()
+
     return psutil.Popen(cmd_list, stdin=DEVNULL, stdout=out, stderr=out)