diff --git a/.env b/.env.example
similarity index 100%
rename from .env
rename to .env.example
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 44c3769ee314d..f35d743ea866f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # gitignore file for WordPress Core
 
 # Configuration files with possibly sensitive information
+.env
 wp-config.php
 wp-tests-config.php
 .htaccess
diff --git a/tools/local-env/scripts/start.js b/tools/local-env/scripts/start.js
index b929dce0b69a8..22bb65ca8426d 100644
--- a/tools/local-env/scripts/start.js
+++ b/tools/local-env/scripts/start.js
@@ -2,6 +2,20 @@ const dotenv       = require( 'dotenv' );
 const dotenvExpand = require( 'dotenv-expand' );
 const { execSync } = require( 'child_process' );
 
+try {
+	execSync( 'test -f .env', { stdio: 'inherit' } );
+} catch ( e ) {
+	// test exits with a status code of 1 if the test fails.
+	// Alert the user on any other failure.
+	if ( e.status !== 1 ) {
+		throw e;
+	}
+
+	// The file does not exist, copy over the default example file.
+	execSync( 'cp .env.example .env', { stdio: 'inherit' } );
+}
+
+
 dotenvExpand.expand( dotenv.config() );
 
 // Check if the Docker service is running.