diff --git a/.grunt/tasks/ignorefiles.js b/.grunt/tasks/ignorefiles.js
index 5d1b83e2722..153e03fee7f 100644
--- a/.grunt/tasks/ignorefiles.js
+++ b/.grunt/tasks/ignorefiles.js
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ module.exports = grunt => {
                 {
                     rule: {
                         _attrs: {
-                            ref: 'moodle',
+                            ref: './.phpcs.xml.dist',
                         },
                     },
                 },
diff --git a/.phpcs.xml.dist b/.phpcs.xml.dist
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fdb96780b7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.phpcs.xml.dist
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<ruleset name="MoodleCore">
+  <rule ref="moodle"/>
+</ruleset>