diff --git a/tools/@aws-cdk/eslint-plugin/lib/rules/invalid-cfn-imports.ts b/tools/@aws-cdk/eslint-plugin/lib/rules/invalid-cfn-imports.ts
index b85cf8180401c..440749d0bdf19 100644
--- a/tools/@aws-cdk/eslint-plugin/lib/rules/invalid-cfn-imports.ts
+++ b/tools/@aws-cdk/eslint-plugin/lib/rules/invalid-cfn-imports.ts
@@ -143,6 +143,10 @@ function getCdkRootDir(filename: string): string | undefined {
 }
 
 function isAlphaPackage(packageDir: string): boolean {
+  if (packageDir.endsWith('aws-cdk-lib/core')) {
+    return false; // special case for core because it does not have a package.json  
+  }
+
   const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(packageDir, 'package.json'), { encoding: 'utf-8' }));
 
   const separateModule = pkg['separate-module'];
@@ -182,4 +186,4 @@ function checkLeftAndRightForCfn(node: any): { name: string, location: string }
   const left = checkLeftAndRightForCfn(node.left);
 
   return right ?? left ?? undefined;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}