diff --git a/tools/bazel.rc b/.bazelrc
similarity index 94%
rename from tools/bazel.rc
rename to .bazelrc
index 1fdf51f..8d9834f 100644
--- a/tools/bazel.rc
+++ b/.bazelrc
@@ -93,3 +93,11 @@
 build --define=PREFIX=/usr
 build --define=LIBDIR=$(PREFIX)/lib
 build --define=INCLUDEDIR=$(PREFIX)/include
+
+# Default options should come above this line
+
+# Options from ./configure
+try-import %workspace%/.tf_configure.bazelrc
+
+# Put user-specific options in .bazelrc.user
+try-import %workspace%/.bazelrc.user
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9032405..e1d352c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 .DS_Store
 .ipynb_checkpoints
 node_modules
-/.bazelrc
+/.bazelrc.user
 /.tf_configure.bazelrc
 /bazel-*
 /bazel_pip
diff --git a/WORKSPACE b/WORKSPACE
index 7cc08e0..0f59c44 100644
--- a/WORKSPACE
+++ b/WORKSPACE
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
 # files, in case the parsing of those build files depends on the bazel
 # version we require here.
 load("//tensorflow:version_check.bzl", "check_bazel_version_at_least")
-check_bazel_version_at_least("0.15.0")
+check_bazel_version_at_least("0.18.0")
 
 load("//tensorflow:workspace.bzl", "tf_workspace")
 
diff --git a/configure.py b/configure.py
index 6c905a0..d19607a 100644
--- a/configure.py
+++ b/configure.py
@@ -255,18 +255,6 @@
 def reset_tf_configure_bazelrc():
   """Reset file that contains customized config settings."""
   open(_TF_BAZELRC, 'w').close()
-  bazelrc_path = os.path.join(_TF_WORKSPACE_ROOT, '.bazelrc')
-
-  data = []
-  if os.path.exists(bazelrc_path):
-    with open(bazelrc_path, 'r') as f:
-      data = f.read().splitlines()
-  with open(bazelrc_path, 'w') as f:
-    for l in data:
-      if _TF_BAZELRC_FILENAME in l:
-        continue
-      f.write('%s\n' % l)
-    f.write('import %%workspace%%/%s\n' % _TF_BAZELRC_FILENAME)
 
 def cleanup_makefile():
   """Delete any leftover BUILD files from the Makefile build.
@@ -488,11 +476,11 @@
   if curr_version_int < min_version_int:
     print('Please upgrade your bazel installation to version %s or higher to '
           'build TensorFlow!' % min_version)
-    sys.exit(0)
-  if curr_version_int > max_version_int:
+    sys.exit(1)
+  if curr_version_int > max_version_int and not 'TF_IGNORE_MAX_BAZEL_VERSION' in os.environ:
     print('Please downgrade your bazel installation to version %s or lower to '
           'build TensorFlow!' % max_version)
-    sys.exit(0)
+    sys.exit(1)
   return curr_version
 
 
@@ -1565,11 +1553,9 @@
   # environment variables.
   environ_cp = dict(os.environ)
 
-  check_bazel_version('0.15.0', '0.20.0')
+  check_bazel_version('0.18.0', '0.20.0')
 
   reset_tf_configure_bazelrc()
-  # Explicitly import tools/bazel.rc, this is needed for Bazel 0.19.0 or later
-  write_to_bazelrc('import %workspace%/tools/bazel.rc')
 
   cleanup_makefile()
   setup_python(environ_cp)
diff --git a/tensorflow/tools/ci_build/install/install_bazel.sh b/tensorflow/tools/ci_build/install/install_bazel.sh
index e284401..7472053 100755
--- a/tensorflow/tools/ci_build/install/install_bazel.sh
+++ b/tensorflow/tools/ci_build/install/install_bazel.sh
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 # ==============================================================================
 
 # Select bazel version.
-BAZEL_VERSION="0.15.0"
+BAZEL_VERSION="0.18.0"
 
 set +e
 local_bazel_ver=$(bazel version 2>&1 | grep -i label | awk '{print $3}')
diff --git a/tensorflow/tools/ci_build/install/install_bazel_from_source.sh b/tensorflow/tools/ci_build/install/install_bazel_from_source.sh
index 87be815..4f83815 100755
--- a/tensorflow/tools/ci_build/install/install_bazel_from_source.sh
+++ b/tensorflow/tools/ci_build/install/install_bazel_from_source.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 # It will compile bazel from source and install it in /usr/local/bin
 
 # Select bazel version.
-BAZEL_VERSION="0.15.0"
+BAZEL_VERSION="0.18.0"
 
 set +e
 local_bazel_ver=$(bazel version 2>&1 | grep -i label | awk '{print $3}')
diff --git a/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel b/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel
index c256dd3..5ddcd3a 100644
--- a/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel
+++ b/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
 RUN echo "build --spawn_strategy=standalone --genrule_strategy=standalone" \
     >>/etc/bazel.bazelrc
 # Install the most recent bazel release.
-ENV BAZEL_VERSION 0.15.0
+ENV BAZEL_VERSION 0.18.0
 WORKDIR /
 RUN mkdir /bazel && \
     cd /bazel && \
diff --git a/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel-gpu b/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel-gpu
index 7f9b55b..767e5f4 100644
--- a/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel-gpu
+++ b/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel-gpu
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@
 RUN echo "build --spawn_strategy=standalone --genrule_strategy=standalone" \
     >>/etc/bazel.bazelrc
 # Install the most recent bazel release.
-ENV BAZEL_VERSION 0.15.0
+ENV BAZEL_VERSION 0.18.0
 WORKDIR /
 RUN mkdir /bazel && \
     cd /bazel && \
diff --git a/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel-mkl b/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel-mkl
index 2341c0e..0980502 100755
--- a/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel-mkl
+++ b/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel-mkl
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
 RUN echo "build --spawn_strategy=standalone --genrule_strategy=standalone" \
     >>/etc/bazel.bazelrc
 # Install the most recent bazel release.
-ENV BAZEL_VERSION 0.15.0
+ENV BAZEL_VERSION 0.18.0
 WORKDIR /
 RUN mkdir /bazel && \
     cd /bazel && \
diff --git a/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel-mkl-horovod b/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel-mkl-horovod
index 5e24617..90db249 100755
--- a/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel-mkl-horovod
+++ b/tensorflow/tools/docker/Dockerfile.devel-mkl-horovod
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@
 RUN echo "build --spawn_strategy=standalone --genrule_strategy=standalone" \
     >>/etc/bazel.bazelrc
 # Install the most recent bazel release.
-ENV BAZEL_VERSION 0.15.0
+ENV BAZEL_VERSION 0.18.0
 WORKDIR /
 RUN mkdir /bazel && \
     cd /bazel && \