diff --git a/app/controllers/projects/pipelines_settings_controller.rb b/app/controllers/projects/pipelines_settings_controller.rb
index c3c17afa025..bfc453215c8 100644
--- a/app/controllers/projects/pipelines_settings_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/projects/pipelines_settings_controller.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class Projects::PipelinesSettingsController < Projects::ApplicationController
   def update_params
     params.require(:project).permit(
       :runners_token, :builds_enabled, :build_allow_git_fetch, :build_timeout_in_minutes, :build_coverage_regex,
-      :public_builds, :auto_cancel_pending_pipelines, :ci_config_file
+      :public_builds, :auto_cancel_pending_pipelines, :ci_config_path
     )
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/ci/pipeline.rb b/app/models/ci/pipeline.rb
index 759fdb4bf4c..c5847dee7f7 100644
--- a/app/models/ci/pipeline.rb
+++ b/app/models/ci/pipeline.rb
@@ -327,10 +327,10 @@ module Ci
     end
 
     def ci_yaml_file_path
-      if project.ci_config_file.blank?
+      if project.ci_config_path.blank?
         '.gitlab-ci.yml'
       else
-        project.ci_config_file
+        project.ci_config_path
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/app/models/project.rb b/app/models/project.rb
index edc95980729..96400b07b18 100644
--- a/app/models/project.rb
+++ b/app/models/project.rb
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
   # Validations
   validates :creator, presence: true, on: :create
   validates :description, length: { maximum: 2000 }, allow_blank: true
-  validates :ci_config_file,
+  validates :ci_config_path,
     format: { without: /\.{2}/,
               message: 'cannot include directory traversal.' },
     length: { maximum: 255 },
@@ -526,7 +526,7 @@ class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
     import_data&.destroy
   end
 
-  def ci_config_file=(value)
+  def ci_config_path=(value)
     # Strip all leading slashes so that //foo -> foo
     super(value&.sub(%r{\A/+}, '')&.delete("\0"))
   end
@@ -1025,7 +1025,7 @@ class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
       visibility_level: visibility_level,
       path_with_namespace: path_with_namespace,
       default_branch: default_branch,
-      ci_config_file: ci_config_file
+      ci_config_path: ci_config_path
     }
 
     # Backward compatibility
diff --git a/app/views/projects/pipelines_settings/_show.html.haml b/app/views/projects/pipelines_settings/_show.html.haml
index c9c8bd2610b..0d1c97df3ca 100644
--- a/app/views/projects/pipelines_settings/_show.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/projects/pipelines_settings/_show.html.haml
@@ -47,11 +47,11 @@
 
         %hr
         .form-group
-          = f.label :ci_config_file, 'Custom CI config file', class: 'label-light'
-          = f.text_field :ci_config_file, class: 'form-control', placeholder: '.gitlab-ci.yml'
+          = f.label :ci_config_path, 'Custom CI config path', class: 'label-light'
+          = f.text_field :ci_config_path, class: 'form-control', placeholder: '.gitlab-ci.yml'
           %p.help-block
             The path to CI config file. Defaults to <code>.gitlab-ci.yml</code>
-            = link_to icon('question-circle'), help_page_path('user/project/pipelines/settings', anchor: 'custom-ci-config-file'), target: '_blank'
+            = link_to icon('question-circle'), help_page_path('user/project/pipelines/settings', anchor: 'custom-ci-config-path'), target: '_blank'
 
         %hr
         .form-group
diff --git a/db/migrate/20160804142904_add_ci_config_file_to_project.rb b/db/migrate/20160804142904_add_ci_config_file_to_project.rb
index 674a22ae8f3..341ae555c1b 100644
--- a/db/migrate/20160804142904_add_ci_config_file_to_project.rb
+++ b/db/migrate/20160804142904_add_ci_config_file_to_project.rb
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@ class AddCiConfigFileToProject < ActiveRecord::Migration
   DOWNTIME = false
 
   def change
-    add_column :projects, :ci_config_file, :string
+    add_column :projects, :ci_config_path, :string
   end
 
   def down
-    remove_column :projects, :ci_config_file
+    remove_column :projects, :ci_config_path
   end
 end
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index 1c8f0ebfb9b..71555b21241 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -1085,7 +1085,7 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20170622162730) do
     t.string "import_jid"
     t.integer "cached_markdown_version"
     t.datetime "last_repository_updated_at"
-    t.string "ci_config_file"
+    t.string "ci_config_path"
   end
 
   add_index "projects", ["ci_id"], name: "index_projects_on_ci_id", using: :btree
diff --git a/doc/api/projects.md b/doc/api/projects.md
index 7e626f54cda..c3a49354d0f 100644
--- a/doc/api/projects.md
+++ b/doc/api/projects.md
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ Parameters:
 | `tag_list`    | array   | no       | The list of tags for a project; put array of tags, that should be finally assigned to a project |
 | `avatar`    | mixed   | no      | Image file for avatar of the project                |
 | `printing_merge_request_link_enabled` | boolean | no | Show link to create/view merge request when pushing from the command line |
-| `ci_config_file` | string | no | The path to CI config file |
+| `ci_config_path` | string | no | The path to CI config file |
 
 ### Create project for user
 
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ Parameters:
 | `tag_list`    | array   | no       | The list of tags for a project; put array of tags, that should be finally assigned to a project |
 | `avatar`    | mixed   | no      | Image file for avatar of the project                |
 | `printing_merge_request_link_enabled` | boolean | no | Show link to create/view merge request when pushing from the command line |
-| `ci_config_file` | string | no | The path to CI config file |
+| `ci_config_path` | string | no | The path to CI config file |
 
 ### Edit project
 
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ Parameters:
 | `request_access_enabled` | boolean | no | Allow users to request member access |
 | `tag_list`    | array   | no       | The list of tags for a project; put array of tags, that should be finally assigned to a project |
 | `avatar`    | mixed   | no      | Image file for avatar of the project                |
-| `ci_config_file` | string | no | The path to CI config file |
+| `ci_config_path` | string | no | The path to CI config file |
 
 ### Fork project
 
diff --git a/doc/user/project/pipelines/settings.md b/doc/user/project/pipelines/settings.md
index 7274fe816cc..3ff5a08d72c 100644
--- a/doc/user/project/pipelines/settings.md
+++ b/doc/user/project/pipelines/settings.md
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ The default value is 60 minutes. Decrease the time limit if you want to impose
 a hard limit on your jobs' running time or increase it otherwise. In any case,
 if the job surpasses the threshold, it is marked as failed.
 
-## Custom CI config file
+## Custom CI config path
 
 >  - [Introduced][ce-12509] in GitLab 9.4.
 
diff --git a/lib/api/entities.rb b/lib/api/entities.rb
index 4ab264a3b98..78d2e6de44e 100644
--- a/lib/api/entities.rb
+++ b/lib/api/entities.rb
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ module API
       expose :open_issues_count, if: lambda { |project, options| project.feature_available?(:issues, options[:current_user]) && project.default_issues_tracker? }
       expose :runners_token, if: lambda { |_project, options| options[:user_can_admin_project] }
       expose :public_builds, as: :public_jobs
-      expose :ci_config_file
+      expose :ci_config_path
       expose :shared_with_groups do |project, options|
         SharedGroup.represent(project.project_group_links.all, options)
       end
diff --git a/lib/api/projects.rb b/lib/api/projects.rb
index efd133d81b3..35733ac7711 100644
--- a/lib/api/projects.rb
+++ b/lib/api/projects.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ module API
     helpers do
       params :optional_params_ce do
         optional :description, type: String, desc: 'The description of the project'
-        optional :ci_config_file, type: String, desc: 'The path to CI config file. Defaults to `.gitlab-ci.yml`'
+        optional :ci_config_path, type: String, desc: 'The path to CI config file. Defaults to `.gitlab-ci.yml`'
         optional :issues_enabled, type: Boolean, desc: 'Flag indication if the issue tracker is enabled'
         optional :merge_requests_enabled, type: Boolean, desc: 'Flag indication if merge requests are enabled'
         optional :wiki_enabled, type: Boolean, desc: 'Flag indication if the wiki is enabled'
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/import_export/safe_model_attributes.yml b/spec/lib/gitlab/import_export/safe_model_attributes.yml
index f782cf533e8..697ddf52af9 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/import_export/safe_model_attributes.yml
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/import_export/safe_model_attributes.yml
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ Project:
 - printing_merge_request_link_enabled
 - build_allow_git_fetch
 - last_repository_updated_at
-- ci_config_file
+- ci_config_path
 Author:
 - name
 ProjectFeature:
diff --git a/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb b/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb
index e5fd549f0d7..f955d9c81b8 100644
--- a/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb
@@ -1474,7 +1474,7 @@ describe Ci::Build, :models do
       let(:ci_config_path) { { key: 'CI_CONFIG_PATH', value: 'custom', public: true } }
 
       before do
-        project.update(ci_config_file: 'custom')
+        project.update(ci_config_path: 'custom')
       end
 
       it { is_expected.to include(ci_config_path) }
diff --git a/spec/models/ci/pipeline_spec.rb b/spec/models/ci/pipeline_spec.rb
index a24b1e6c818..ba0696fa210 100644
--- a/spec/models/ci/pipeline_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/ci/pipeline_spec.rb
@@ -752,19 +752,19 @@ describe Ci::Pipeline, models: true do
     subject { pipeline.ci_yaml_file_path }
 
     it 'returns the path from project' do
-      allow(pipeline.project).to receive(:ci_config_file) { 'custom/path' }
+      allow(pipeline.project).to receive(:ci_config_path) { 'custom/path' }
 
       is_expected.to eq('custom/path')
     end
 
     it 'returns default when custom path is nil' do
-      allow(pipeline.project).to receive(:ci_config_file) { nil }
+      allow(pipeline.project).to receive(:ci_config_path) { nil }
 
       is_expected.to eq('.gitlab-ci.yml')
     end
 
     it 'returns default when custom path is empty' do
-      allow(pipeline.project).to receive(:ci_config_file) { '' }
+      allow(pipeline.project).to receive(:ci_config_path) { '' }
 
       is_expected.to eq('.gitlab-ci.yml')
     end
@@ -772,7 +772,7 @@ describe Ci::Pipeline, models: true do
 
   describe '#ci_yaml_file' do
     it 'reports error if the file is not found' do
-      allow(pipeline.project).to receive(:ci_config_file) { 'custom' }
+      allow(pipeline.project).to receive(:ci_config_path) { 'custom' }
 
       pipeline.ci_yaml_file
 
diff --git a/spec/models/project_spec.rb b/spec/models/project_spec.rb
index a682fa82bf0..6197a390da8 100644
--- a/spec/models/project_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/project_spec.rb
@@ -143,9 +143,9 @@ describe Project, models: true do
 
     it { is_expected.to validate_length_of(:description).is_at_most(2000) }
 
-    it { is_expected.to validate_length_of(:ci_config_file).is_at_most(255) }
-    it { is_expected.to allow_value('').for(:ci_config_file) }
-    it { is_expected.not_to allow_value('test/../foo').for(:ci_config_file) }
+    it { is_expected.to validate_length_of(:ci_config_path).is_at_most(255) }
+    it { is_expected.to allow_value('').for(:ci_config_path) }
+    it { is_expected.not_to allow_value('test/../foo').for(:ci_config_path) }
 
     it { is_expected.to validate_presence_of(:creator) }
 
@@ -1493,25 +1493,25 @@ describe Project, models: true do
     end
   end
 
-  describe '#ci_config_file=' do
+  describe '#ci_config_path=' do
     let(:project) { create(:empty_project) }
 
     it 'sets nil' do
-      project.update!(ci_config_file: nil)
+      project.update!(ci_config_path: nil)
 
-      expect(project.ci_config_file).to be_nil
+      expect(project.ci_config_path).to be_nil
     end
 
     it 'sets a string' do
-      project.update!(ci_config_file: 'foo/.gitlab_ci.yml')
+      project.update!(ci_config_path: 'foo/.gitlab_ci.yml')
 
-      expect(project.ci_config_file).to eq('foo/.gitlab_ci.yml')
+      expect(project.ci_config_path).to eq('foo/.gitlab_ci.yml')
     end
 
     it 'sets a string but remove all leading slashes and null characters' do
-      project.update!(ci_config_file: "///f\0oo/\0/.gitlab_ci.yml")
+      project.update!(ci_config_path: "///f\0oo/\0/.gitlab_ci.yml")
 
-      expect(project.ci_config_file).to eq('foo//.gitlab_ci.yml')
+      expect(project.ci_config_path).to eq('foo//.gitlab_ci.yml')
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/requests/api/projects_spec.rb b/spec/requests/api/projects_spec.rb
index d19ce2d9887..8ac65ecccab 100644
--- a/spec/requests/api/projects_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/api/projects_spec.rb
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ describe API::Projects do
         only_allow_merge_if_pipeline_succeeds: false,
         request_access_enabled: true,
         only_allow_merge_if_all_discussions_are_resolved: false,
-        ci_config_file: 'a/custom/path'
+        ci_config_path: 'a/custom/path'
       })
 
       post api('/projects', user), project
@@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ describe API::Projects do
         expect(json_response['star_count']).to be_present
         expect(json_response['forks_count']).to be_present
         expect(json_response['public_jobs']).to be_present
-        expect(json_response['ci_config_file']).to be_nil
+        expect(json_response['ci_config_path']).to be_nil
         expect(json_response['shared_with_groups']).to be_an Array
         expect(json_response['shared_with_groups'].length).to eq(1)
         expect(json_response['shared_with_groups'][0]['group_id']).to eq(group.id)