diff --git a/docs/changelog/1684.feature.rst b/docs/changelog/1684.feature.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..609bfd198
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/1684.feature.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Prevent .tox in envlist - by :user:`jayvdb`
diff --git a/src/tox/config/__init__.py b/src/tox/config/__init__.py
index b438c5a28..600433201 100644
--- a/src/tox/config/__init__.py
+++ b/src/tox/config/__init__.py
@@ -1475,6 +1475,11 @@ def _getenvdata(self, reader, config):
         if not env_list:
             env_list = all_envs
 
+        provision_tox_env = config.provision_tox_env
+        if config.provision_tox_env in env_list:
+            msg = "provision_tox_env {} cannot be part of envlist".format(provision_tox_env)
+            raise tox.exception.ConfigError(msg)
+
         package_env = config.isolated_build_env
         if config.isolated_build is True and package_env in all_envs:
             all_envs.remove(package_env)
@@ -1482,6 +1487,7 @@ def _getenvdata(self, reader, config):
         if config.isolated_build is True and package_env in env_list:
             msg = "isolated_build_env {} cannot be part of envlist".format(package_env)
             raise tox.exception.ConfigError(msg)
+
         return env_list, all_envs, _split_env(from_config), envlist_explicit
 
     @staticmethod
diff --git a/tests/unit/config/test_config.py b/tests/unit/config/test_config.py
index 68ff8c8c9..fe11224c2 100644
--- a/tests/unit/config/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/unit/config/test_config.py
@@ -3479,6 +3479,22 @@ def test_commands_with_backslash(self, newconfig):
         assert envconfig.commands[0] == ["some", r"hello\world"]
 
 
+def test_provision_tox_env_cannot_be_in_envlist(newconfig, capsys):
+    inisource = """
+            [tox]
+            envlist = py36,.tox
+        """
+    with pytest.raises(
+        tox.exception.ConfigError,
+        match="provision_tox_env .tox cannot be part of envlist",
+    ):
+        newconfig([], inisource)
+
+    out, err = capsys.readouterr()
+    assert not err
+    assert not out
+
+
 def test_isolated_build_env_cannot_be_in_envlist(newconfig, capsys):
     inisource = """
             [tox]