diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/event_log/server/es/names.mock.ts b/x-pack/plugins/event_log/server/es/names.mock.ts
index 268421235b4b2..7b3d01f3baa89 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/event_log/server/es/names.mock.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/event_log/server/es/names.mock.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const createNamesMock = () => {
   const mock: jest.Mocked<EsNames> = {
     base: '.kibana',
     alias: '.kibana-event-log-8.0.0',
-    ilmPolicy: '.kibana-event-log-policy',
+    ilmPolicy: 'kibana-event-log-policy',
     indexPattern: '.kibana-event-log-*',
     indexPatternWithVersion: '.kibana-event-log-8.0.0-*',
     initialIndex: '.kibana-event-log-8.0.0-000001',
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/event_log/server/es/names.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/event_log/server/es/names.test.ts
index baefd756bb1ed..bc6a4c9a52fac 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/event_log/server/es/names.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/event_log/server/es/names.test.ts
@@ -23,4 +23,10 @@ describe('getEsNames()', () => {
     expect(esNames.initialIndex).toEqual(`${base}-event-log-${version}-000001`);
     expect(esNames.indexTemplate).toEqual(`${base}-event-log-${version}-template`);
   });
+
+  test('ilm policy name does not contain dot prefix', () => {
+    const base = '.XYZ';
+    const esNames = getEsNames(base);
+    expect(esNames.ilmPolicy).toEqual('XYZ-event-log-policy');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/event_log/server/es/names.ts b/x-pack/plugins/event_log/server/es/names.ts
index d55d02a16fc9a..8cd56a89d3fbe 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/event_log/server/es/names.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/event_log/server/es/names.ts
@@ -22,10 +22,13 @@ export interface EsNames {
 export function getEsNames(baseName: string): EsNames {
   const eventLogName = `${baseName}${EVENT_LOG_NAME_SUFFIX}`;
   const eventLogNameWithVersion = `${eventLogName}${EVENT_LOG_VERSION_SUFFIX}`;
+  const eventLogPolicyName = `${
+    baseName.startsWith('.') ? baseName.substring(1) : baseName
+  }${EVENT_LOG_NAME_SUFFIX}-policy`;
   return {
     base: baseName,
     alias: eventLogNameWithVersion,
-    ilmPolicy: `${eventLogName}-policy`,
+    ilmPolicy: `${eventLogPolicyName}`,
     indexPattern: `${eventLogName}-*`,
     indexPatternWithVersion: `${eventLogNameWithVersion}-*`,
     initialIndex: `${eventLogNameWithVersion}-000001`,