diff --git a/lisp/files.el b/lisp/files.el
index 8b4e4394e5a..9c8914bfc50 100644
--- a/lisp/files.el
+++ b/lisp/files.el
@@ -3059,7 +3059,7 @@ ARC\\|ZIP\\|LZH\\|LHA\\|ZOO\\|[JEW]AR\\|XPI\\|RAR\\|CBR\\|7Z\\|SQUASHFS\\)\\'" .
      ("\\.docbook\\'" . sgml-mode)
      ("\\.com\\'" . dcl-mode)
      ("/config\\.\\(?:bat\\|log\\)\\'" . fundamental-mode)
-     ("/\\.\\(authinfo\\|netrc\\)\\'" . authinfo-mode)
+     ("/\\.?\\(authinfo\\|netrc\\)\\'" . authinfo-mode)
      ;; Windows candidates may be opened case sensitively on Unix
      ("\\.\\(?:[iI][nN][iI]\\|[lL][sS][tT]\\|[rR][eE][gG]\\|[sS][yY][sS]\\)\\'" . conf-mode)
      ("\\.la\\'" . conf-unix-mode)