diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/new/templateSelector.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/new/templateSelector.ts
index 4a7f651065..53bc00bbd8 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/new/templateSelector.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/new/templateSelector.ts
@@ -68,10 +68,12 @@ export function verifyTemplate({ id, target }: TemplateLocation): Template {
   if (target.startsWith('http')) {
     throw new Error('Remote templates are not supported yet');
   }
-  if (!fs.existsSync(target)) {
+  if (!fs.existsSync(paths.resolveTargetRoot(target))) {
     throw new Error(`Your CLI template does not exist: ${target}`);
   }
-  const template = parse(fs.readFileSync(target, 'utf-8'));
+  const template = parse(
+    fs.readFileSync(paths.resolveTargetRoot(target), 'utf-8'),
+  );
   const templatePath = paths.resolveTargetRoot(
     dirname(target),
     template.template,