diff --git a/src/runner.ts b/src/runner.ts
index c611a645385..53af8107ca2 100644
--- a/src/runner.ts
+++ b/src/runner.ts
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ import {
 import { FatalError } from "./error";
 import { LintResult } from "./index";
 import * as Linter from "./linter";
-import { arrayify, flatMap } from "./utils";
+import { arrayify, flatMap, writeFileAsync } from "./utils";
 
 export interface Options {
     /**
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ async function runWorker(options: Options, logger: Logger): Promise<Status> {
             throw new FatalError(`Cannot generate ${CONFIG_FILENAME}: file already exists`);
         }
 
-        fs.writeFileSync(CONFIG_FILENAME, JSON.stringify(DEFAULT_CONFIG, undefined, "    "));
+        await writeFileAsync(CONFIG_FILENAME, JSON.stringify(DEFAULT_CONFIG, undefined, "    "));
         return Status.Ok;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index 65ef068a3df..b06b296cc70 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+import * as fs from "fs";
+
 /**
  * Enforces the invariant that the input is an array.
  */
@@ -213,3 +215,15 @@ export function detectBufferEncoding(buffer: Buffer, length = buffer.length): En
 export function denormalizeWinPath(path: string): string {
     return path.replace(/\\/g, "/");
 }
+
+export async function writeFileAsync(fileName: string, data: string): Promise<void> {
+    await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+        fs.writeFile(fileName, data, (error?: Error) => {
+            if (error !== null) {
+                reject(error);
+            } else {
+                resolve();
+            }
+        });
+    });
+}