diff --git a/.eslintrc b/.eslintrc
index e8496e8560..af0e6ddc15 100644
--- a/.eslintrc
+++ b/.eslintrc
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ rules:
   prefer-const: 2
 
   # Custom rules in tools/eslint-rules
+  assert-fail-single-argument: 2
   new-with-error: [2, "Error", "RangeError", "TypeError", "SyntaxError", "ReferenceError"]
   align-multiline-assignment: 2
 
diff --git a/tools/eslint-rules/assert-fail-single-argument.js b/tools/eslint-rules/assert-fail-single-argument.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4ce7902381
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/eslint-rules/assert-fail-single-argument.js
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/**
+ * @fileoverview Prohibit use of a single argument only in `assert.fail()`. It
+ * is almost always an error.
+ * @author Rich Trott
+ */
+'use strict';
+
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Rule Definition
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+const msg = 'assert.fail() message should be third argument';
+
+function isAssert(node) {
+  return node.callee.object && node.callee.object.name === 'assert';
+}
+
+function isFail(node) {
+  return node.callee.property && node.callee.property.name === 'fail';
+}
+
+module.exports = function(context) {
+  return {
+    'CallExpression': function(node) {
+      if (isAssert(node) && isFail(node) && node.arguments.length === 1) {
+        context.report(node, msg);
+      }
+    }
+  };
+};