diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5ccf3a317..193640562 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -34,10 +34,6 @@ cmake/
 # stage0 install directory
 .dotnet_stage0
 
-# `dotnet new` project.json.template files are generated by a pre-build step.
-# ignore these files
-/src/dotnet/commands/dotnet-new/**/project.json.template
-
 ### VisualStudio.gitignore from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/gitignore/master/VisualStudio.gitignore ###
 
 ## Ignore Visual Studio temporary files, build results, and
diff --git a/build_projects/dotnet-cli-build/PrepareTargets.cs b/build_projects/dotnet-cli-build/PrepareTargets.cs
index b2bc2bc9f..3029d85f7 100644
--- a/build_projects/dotnet-cli-build/PrepareTargets.cs
+++ b/build_projects/dotnet-cli-build/PrepareTargets.cs
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Build
         // All major targets will depend on this in order to ensure variables are set up right if they are run independently
         [Target(
             nameof(GenerateVersions), 
-            nameof(UpdateTemplateVersions), 
             nameof(CheckPrereqs), 
             nameof(LocateStage0), 
             nameof(ExpectedBuildArtifacts),
@@ -87,27 +86,6 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Build
             return c.Success();
         }
 
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Updates the Microsoft.NETCore.App version number in the `dotnet new` project.json.template files.
-        /// </summary>
-        [Target]
-        public static BuildTargetResult UpdateTemplateVersions(BuildTargetContext c)
-        {
-            IEnumerable<string> templateFiles = Directory.GetFiles(
-                Path.Combine(Dirs.RepoRoot, "src", "dotnet", "commands", "dotnet-new"),
-                "project.json.pretemplate",
-                SearchOption.AllDirectories);
-
-            foreach (string templateFile in templateFiles)
-            {
-                JObject projectRoot = JsonUtils.ReadProject(templateFile);
-                projectRoot["dependencies"]["Microsoft.NETCore.App"]["version"] = DependencyVersions.SharedFrameworkVersion;
-                JsonUtils.WriteProject(projectRoot, Path.ChangeExtension(templateFile, "template"));
-            }
-
-            return c.Success();
-        }
-
         [Target]
         public static BuildTargetResult LocateStage0(BuildTargetContext c)
         {
diff --git a/build_projects/update-dependencies/UpdateFilesTargets.cs b/build_projects/update-dependencies/UpdateFilesTargets.cs
index 1e9292ddb..6638c7255 100644
--- a/build_projects/update-dependencies/UpdateFilesTargets.cs
+++ b/build_projects/update-dependencies/UpdateFilesTargets.cs
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.Scripts
 
             IEnumerable<string> projectJsonFiles = Enumerable.Union(
                 Directory.GetFiles(Dirs.RepoRoot, "project.json", SearchOption.AllDirectories),
-                Directory.GetFiles(Path.Combine(Dirs.RepoRoot, @"src\dotnet\commands\dotnet-new"), "project.json.pretemplate", SearchOption.AllDirectories))
+                Directory.GetFiles(Path.Combine(Dirs.RepoRoot, @"src\dotnet\commands\dotnet-new"), "project.json.template", SearchOption.AllDirectories))
                 .Where(p => !File.Exists(Path.Combine(Path.GetDirectoryName(p), noUpdateFileName)));
 
             JObject projectRoot;
diff --git a/src/dotnet/commands/dotnet-new/CSharp_Console/project.json.pretemplate b/src/dotnet/commands/dotnet-new/CSharp_Console/project.json.template
similarity index 86%
rename from src/dotnet/commands/dotnet-new/CSharp_Console/project.json.pretemplate
rename to src/dotnet/commands/dotnet-new/CSharp_Console/project.json.template
index 8429abb78..38a08507e 100644
--- a/src/dotnet/commands/dotnet-new/CSharp_Console/project.json.pretemplate
+++ b/src/dotnet/commands/dotnet-new/CSharp_Console/project.json.template
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "Microsoft.NETCore.App": {
       "type": "platform",
-      "version": "$(NetCoreAppVersion)"
+      "version": "1.0.0-rc3-004306"
     }
   },
   "frameworks": {
diff --git a/src/dotnet/commands/dotnet-new/FSharp_Console/project.json.pretemplate b/src/dotnet/commands/dotnet-new/FSharp_Console/project.json.template
similarity index 94%
rename from src/dotnet/commands/dotnet-new/FSharp_Console/project.json.pretemplate
rename to src/dotnet/commands/dotnet-new/FSharp_Console/project.json.template
index 792f42989..425388896 100644
--- a/src/dotnet/commands/dotnet-new/FSharp_Console/project.json.pretemplate
+++ b/src/dotnet/commands/dotnet-new/FSharp_Console/project.json.template
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
     "Microsoft.FSharp.Core.netcore": "1.0.0-alpha-160316",
     "Microsoft.NETCore.App": {
       "type": "platform",
-      "version": "$(NetCoreAppVersion)"
+      "version": "1.0.0-rc3-004306"
     }
   },
   "tools": {