diff --git a/packages/kbn-ts-type-check-cli/run_type_check_cli.ts b/packages/kbn-ts-type-check-cli/run_type_check_cli.ts
index 6a45ef8110e2e..ceaf25335b713 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-ts-type-check-cli/run_type_check_cli.ts
+++ b/packages/kbn-ts-type-check-cli/run_type_check_cli.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import { archiveTSBuildArtifacts } from './src/archive/archive_ts_build_artifact
 import { restoreTSBuildArtifacts } from './src/archive/restore_ts_build_artifacts';
 import { LOCAL_CACHE_ROOT } from './src/archive/constants';
 import { isCiEnvironment } from './src/archive/utils';
+import { normalizeProjectPath } from './src/normalize_project_path';
 
 const rel = (from: string, to: string) => {
   const path = Path.relative(from, to);
@@ -133,7 +134,7 @@ run(
       log.verbose('Skipping TypeScript cache restore because --with-archive was not provided.');
     }
 
-    const projectFilter = flagsReader.path('project');
+    const projectFilter = normalizeProjectPath(flagsReader.path('project'), log);
 
     const projects = TS_PROJECTS.filter(
       (p) => !p.isTypeCheckDisabled() && (!projectFilter || p.path === projectFilter)
diff --git a/packages/kbn-ts-type-check-cli/src/normalize_project_path.test.ts b/packages/kbn-ts-type-check-cli/src/normalize_project_path.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..2c12d601a94e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/kbn-ts-type-check-cli/src/normalize_project_path.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the "Elastic License
+ * 2.0", the "GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 only", and the "Server Side
+ * Public License v 1"; you may not use this file except in compliance with, at
+ * your election, the "Elastic License 2.0", the "GNU Affero General Public
+ * License v3.0 only", or the "Server Side Public License, v 1".
+ */
+
+import Path from 'path';
+import { REPO_ROOT } from '@kbn/repo-info';
+
+import { normalizeProjectPath } from './normalize_project_path';
+
+describe('normalizeProjectPath', () => {
+  it('returns undefined when project path is not set', () => {
+    const warning = jest.fn();
+    expect(normalizeProjectPath(undefined, { warning })).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(warning).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('returns the same project path when tsconfig.json is passed', () => {
+    const warning = jest.fn();
+    const projectPath = '/repo/packages/foo/tsconfig.json';
+
+    expect(normalizeProjectPath(projectPath, { warning })).toBe(projectPath);
+    expect(warning).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('normalizes tsconfig.type_check.json to tsconfig.json and logs a warning', () => {
+    const warning = jest.fn();
+    const projectPath = Path.resolve(REPO_ROOT, 'packages/foo/tsconfig.type_check.json');
+    const normalizedProjectPath = Path.resolve(REPO_ROOT, 'packages/foo/tsconfig.json');
+
+    expect(normalizeProjectPath(projectPath, { warning })).toBe(normalizedProjectPath);
+    expect(warning).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(warning).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      `Received --project=packages/foo/tsconfig.type_check.json. tsconfig.type_check.json is generated by the type-check script; using packages/foo/tsconfig.json instead.`
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/kbn-ts-type-check-cli/src/normalize_project_path.ts b/packages/kbn-ts-type-check-cli/src/normalize_project_path.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c7ceab0338f78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/kbn-ts-type-check-cli/src/normalize_project_path.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the "Elastic License
+ * 2.0", the "GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 only", and the "Server Side
+ * Public License v 1"; you may not use this file except in compliance with, at
+ * your election, the "Elastic License 2.0", the "GNU Affero General Public
+ * License v3.0 only", or the "Server Side Public License, v 1".
+ */
+
+import Path from 'path';
+import { REPO_ROOT } from '@kbn/repo-info';
+import type { SomeDevLog } from '@kbn/some-dev-log';
+
+const TYPE_CHECK_CONFIG_FILENAME = 'tsconfig.type_check.json';
+const PROJECT_CONFIG_FILENAME = 'tsconfig.json';
+
+const formatPathForLog = (path: string) => {
+  if (!Path.isAbsolute(path)) {
+    return path;
+  }
+
+  const relativeToRepoRoot = Path.relative(REPO_ROOT, path);
+  if (!relativeToRepoRoot.startsWith('..') && !Path.isAbsolute(relativeToRepoRoot)) {
+    return relativeToRepoRoot;
+  }
+
+  return path;
+};
+
+/**
+ * Normalizes the `--project` value passed to `scripts/type_check`.
+ *
+ * The type-check CLI expects a source `tsconfig.json`. If a generated
+ * `tsconfig.type_check.json` path is passed instead, this rewrites it to the
+ * sibling `tsconfig.json` and logs a warning explaining the correction.
+ */
+export const normalizeProjectPath = (
+  projectPath: string | undefined,
+  log: Pick<SomeDevLog, 'warning'>
+) => {
+  if (!projectPath || Path.basename(projectPath) !== TYPE_CHECK_CONFIG_FILENAME) {
+    return projectPath;
+  }
+
+  const normalizedPath = Path.resolve(Path.dirname(projectPath), PROJECT_CONFIG_FILENAME);
+  const formattedProjectPath = formatPathForLog(projectPath);
+  const formattedNormalizedPath = formatPathForLog(normalizedPath);
+
+  log.warning(
+    `Received --project=${formattedProjectPath}. ${TYPE_CHECK_CONFIG_FILENAME} is generated by the type-check script; using ${formattedNormalizedPath} instead.`
+  );
+
+  return normalizedPath;
+};