diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/create-plugin/createPlugin.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/create-plugin/createPlugin.ts
index a12060bbd2..7fcb0aef1a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/create-plugin/createPlugin.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/create-plugin/createPlugin.ts
@@ -301,6 +301,7 @@ export default async (opts: OptionValues) => {
         npmRegistry,
       },
       createPackageVersionProvider(lockfile),
+      isMonoRepo,
     );
 
     Task.section('Moving to final location');
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/new/new.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/new/new.ts
index b0d30c0415..a5f8f6763f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/new/new.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/new/new.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import { FactoryRegistry } from '../../lib/new/FactoryRegistry';
 import { paths } from '../../lib/paths';
 import { assertError } from '@backstage/errors';
 import { Task } from '../../lib/tasks';
+import { isMonoRepo } from '../../lib/monorepo/isMonoRepo';
 
 function parseOptions(optionStrings: string[]): Record<string, string> {
   const options: Record<string, string> = {};
@@ -49,21 +50,6 @@ export default async (opts: OptionValues) => {
     providedOptions,
   );
 
-  let isMonoRepo = false;
-  try {
-    const rootPackageJson = await fs.readJson(
-      paths.resolveTargetRoot('package.json'),
-    );
-    if (rootPackageJson.workspaces) {
-      isMonoRepo = true;
-    }
-  } catch (error) {
-    assertError(error);
-    if (error.code !== 'ENOENT') {
-      throw error;
-    }
-  }
-
   let defaultVersion = '0.1.0';
   try {
     const rootLernaJson = await fs.readJson(
@@ -89,7 +75,7 @@ export default async (opts: OptionValues) => {
   let modified = false;
   try {
     await factory.create(options, {
-      isMonoRepo,
+      isMonoRepo: await isMonoRepo(),
       defaultVersion,
       scope: opts.scope?.replace(/^@/, ''),
       npmRegistry: opts.npmRegistry,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/new/factories/common/tasks.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/new/factories/common/tasks.ts
index 93af1e2b00..99ffabfb24 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/new/factories/common/tasks.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/new/factories/common/tasks.ts
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ export async function executePluginPackageTemplate(
     tempDir,
     options.values,
     createPackageVersionProvider(lockfile),
+    ctx.isMonoRepo,
   );
 
   // Format package.json if it exists
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.test.ts
index 4d9af05c4b..fb1f38536f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.test.ts
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ describe('templatingTask', () => {
         pluginVersion: '0.0.0',
       },
       () => '^0.1.2',
+      true,
     );
 
     await expect(
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.ts
index c84eed435e..851f962c62 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import { promisify } from 'util';
 import { basename, dirname } from 'path';
 import recursive from 'recursive-readdir';
 import { exec as execCb } from 'child_process';
-import { paths } from './paths';
 import { assertError } from '@backstage/errors';
 
 const exec = promisify(execCb);
@@ -102,11 +101,11 @@ export async function templatingTask(
   destinationDir: string,
   context: any,
   versionProvider: (name: string, versionHint?: string) => string,
+  isMonoRepo: boolean,
 ) {
   const files = await recursive(templateDir).catch(error => {
     throw new Error(`Failed to read template directory: ${error.message}`);
   });
-  const isMonoRepo = await fs.pathExists(paths.resolveTargetRoot('lerna.json'));
 
   for (const file of files) {
     const destinationFile = file.replace(templateDir, destinationDir);