diff --git a/curriculum/challenges/.markdownlint.yaml b/curriculum/challenges/.markdownlint.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ba92d2fa10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/curriculum/challenges/.markdownlint.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+default: true  # include all rules, with exceptions below
+MD002: false   # first heading should not be a top level heading
+MD013: false   # lines can be any length
+MD022: false   # headings don't need surrounding by newlines
+MD025: false   # headings are used as markers by the parser
+MD031: true    # fenced blocks do need surrounding by newlines
+MD033: false   # inline html is required
+MD040: false   # TODO: enable this when the challenges have been fixed
+MD036: false   # TODO: **Example** is the main offender, should that be a heading?
+whitespace: false  # extra whitespace is ignored, so we don't enforce it.
diff --git a/tools/scripts/lint/.markdownlintrc.js b/tools/scripts/lint/.markdownlintrc.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 25ea060e88..0000000000
--- a/tools/scripts/lint/.markdownlintrc.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-// JS rather than JSON so comments can be included
-
-module.exports = {
-  "default": true,  // include all rules, with exceptions below
-  "MD002": false,   // first heading should not be a top level heading
-  "MD013": false,   // lines can be any length
-  "MD022": false,   // headings don't need surrounding by newlines
-  "MD031": true,    // fenced blocks do need surrounding by newlines
-  "MD033": false,   // inline html is required
-  "whitespace": false  // extra whitespace is ignored, so we don't enforce it.
-}
diff --git a/tools/scripts/lint/fixtures/badFencing.md b/tools/scripts/lint/fixtures/badFencing.md
index 3b930a288d..efb2c8781a 100644
--- a/tools/scripts/lint/fixtures/badFencing.md
+++ b/tools/scripts/lint/fixtures/badFencing.md
@@ -15,12 +15,16 @@ videoUrl: ''
 
 ## Tests
 <section id='tests'>
+
+text
 ```yml
 tests:
   - text: text
       testString: testString
 
 ```
+moretext
+
 </section>
 
 ## Challenge Seed
@@ -29,8 +33,6 @@ tests:
 <div id='html-seed'>
 </div>
 
-
-
 </section>
 
 ## Solution
diff --git a/tools/scripts/lint/index.js b/tools/scripts/lint/index.js
index f6bbe6fc85..b29e082118 100644
--- a/tools/scripts/lint/index.js
+++ b/tools/scripts/lint/index.js
@@ -1,10 +1,18 @@
-const lintRules = require('./.markdownlintrc');
-const linter = require('./linter');
+const YAML = require('js-yaml');
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
 const argv = require('yargs').argv;
+const linter = require('./linter');
 
+const CONFIG_PATH = path.resolve(
+  __dirname,
+  '../../../curriculum/challenges/.markdownlint.yaml'
+);
 const isMDRE = /.*\.md$/;
 
-const lint = linter(lintRules);
+const lintRules = fs.readFileSync(CONFIG_PATH, 'utf8');
+
+const lint = linter(YAML.load(lintRules));
 
 const files = argv._.filter(arg => isMDRE.test(arg));
 files.forEach(path => lint({ path: path }));