diff --git a/packages/cli/package.json b/packages/cli/package.json
index 8a330d861b..89c0520b59 100644
--- a/packages/cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/cli/package.json
@@ -108,6 +108,13 @@
     "yn": "^4.0.0"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
+    "@backstage/backend-common": "^0.1.1-alpha.25",
+    "@backstage/cli": "^0.1.1-alpha.25",
+    "@backstage/config": "^0.1.1-alpha.25",
+    "@backstage/core": "^0.1.1-alpha.25",
+    "@backstage/dev-utils": "^0.1.1-alpha.25",
+    "@backstage/test-utils": "^0.1.1-alpha.25",
+    "@backstage/theme": "^0.1.1-alpha.25",
     "@types/diff": "^4.0.2",
     "@types/fs-extra": "^9.0.1",
     "@types/html-webpack-plugin": "^3.2.2",
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/create-plugin/createPlugin.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/create-plugin/createPlugin.ts
index 057e36ceb9..b603e732b8 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/create-plugin/createPlugin.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/create-plugin/createPlugin.ts
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ import {
   getCodeownersFilePath,
 } from '../../lib/codeowners';
 import { paths } from '../../lib/paths';
+import { versions } from '../../lib/version';
 import { Task, templatingTask } from '../../lib/tasks';
-import { version as backstageVersion } from '../../lib/version';
 
 const exec = promisify(execCb);
 
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ export default async (cmd: Command) => {
     ? paths.resolveTargetRoot('plugins', pluginId)
     : paths.resolveTargetRoot(pluginId);
   const ownerIds = parseOwnerIds(answers.owner);
-  const { version } = isMonoRepo
+  const { version: pluginVersion } = isMonoRepo
     ? await fs.readJson(paths.resolveTargetRoot('lerna.json'))
     : { version: '0.1.0' };
 
@@ -259,14 +259,18 @@ export default async (cmd: Command) => {
 
     Task.section('Preparing files');
 
-    await templatingTask(templateDir, tempDir, {
-      ...answers,
-      version,
-      backstageVersion,
-      name,
-      privatePackage,
-      npmRegistry,
-    });
+    await templatingTask(
+      templateDir,
+      tempDir,
+      {
+        ...answers,
+        pluginVersion,
+        name,
+        privatePackage,
+        npmRegistry,
+      },
+      versions,
+    );
 
     Task.section('Moving to final location');
     await movePlugin(tempDir, pluginDir, pluginId);
@@ -276,7 +280,7 @@ export default async (cmd: Command) => {
 
     if ((await fs.pathExists(appPackage)) && !cmd.backend) {
       Task.section('Adding plugin as dependency in app');
-      await addPluginDependencyToApp(paths.targetRoot, name, version);
+      await addPluginDependencyToApp(paths.targetRoot, name, pluginVersion);
 
       Task.section('Import plugin in app');
       await addPluginToApp(paths.targetRoot, pluginId, name);
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/plugin/diff.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/plugin/diff.ts
index 012c061f74..416d67869b 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/plugin/diff.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/plugin/diff.ts
@@ -25,13 +25,12 @@ import {
   yesPromptFunc,
 } from '../../lib/diff';
 import { paths } from '../../lib/paths';
-import { version as backstageVersion } from '../../lib/version';
 
 export type PluginData = {
   id: string;
   name: string;
   privatePackage: string;
-  version: string;
+  pluginVersion: string;
   npmRegistry: string;
 };
 
@@ -62,10 +61,7 @@ export default async (cmd: Command) => {
   }
 
   const data = await readPluginData();
-  const templateFiles = await diffTemplateFiles('default-plugin', {
-    backstageVersion,
-    ...data,
-  });
+  const templateFiles = await diffTemplateFiles('default-plugin', data);
   await handleAllFiles(fileHandlers, templateFiles, promptFunc);
   await finalize();
 };
@@ -74,13 +70,13 @@ export default async (cmd: Command) => {
 async function readPluginData(): Promise<PluginData> {
   let name: string;
   let privatePackage: string;
-  let version: string;
+  let pluginVersion: string;
   let npmRegistry: string;
   try {
     const pkg = require(paths.resolveTarget('package.json'));
     name = pkg.name;
     privatePackage = pkg.private;
-    version = pkg.version;
+    pluginVersion = pkg.version;
     const scope = name.split('/')[0];
     if (`${scope}:registry` in pkg.publishConfig) {
       const registryURL = pkg.publishConfig[`${scope}:registry`];
@@ -102,5 +98,5 @@ async function readPluginData(): Promise<PluginData> {
 
   const id = pluginIdMatch[1];
 
-  return { id, name, privatePackage, version, npmRegistry };
+  return { id, name, privatePackage, pluginVersion, npmRegistry };
 }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/diff/read.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/diff/read.ts
index 75e1b86d24..a4a7355d2d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/diff/read.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/diff/read.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import handlebars from 'handlebars';
 import recursiveReadDir from 'recursive-readdir';
 import { paths } from '../paths';
 import { FileDiff } from './types';
+import { versions } from '../../lib/version';
 
 export type TemplatedFile = {
   path: string;
@@ -40,7 +41,16 @@ async function readTemplateFile(
     return contents;
   }
 
-  return handlebars.compile(contents)(templateVars);
+  return handlebars.compile(contents)(templateVars, {
+    helpers: {
+      version(name: string) {
+        if (versions[name]) {
+          return versions[name];
+        }
+        throw new Error(`No version available for package ${name}`);
+      },
+    },
+  });
 }
 
 async function readTemplate(
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.test.ts
index d80fcbe9b0..a42902c60b 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.test.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ describe('templatingTask', () => {
 
     // Files content
     const testFileContent = 'testing';
-    const testVersionFileContent = 'version: {{version}}';
+    const testVersionFileContent =
+      "version: {{pluginVersion}} {{version 'mock-pkg'}}";
 
     mockFs({
       [tmplDir]: {
@@ -45,15 +46,20 @@ describe('templatingTask', () => {
       [destDir]: {},
     });
 
-    await templatingTask(tmplDir, destDir, {
-      version: '0.0.0',
-    });
+    await templatingTask(
+      tmplDir,
+      destDir,
+      {
+        version: '0.0.0',
+      },
+      { 'mock-pkg': '0.1.2' },
+    );
 
     await expect(
       fs.readFile(resolvePath(destDir, 'test.txt'), 'utf8'),
     ).resolves.toBe(testFileContent);
     await expect(
       fs.readFile(resolvePath(destDir, 'sub/version.txt'), 'utf8'),
-    ).resolves.toBe('version: 0.0.0');
+    ).resolves.toBe('version: 0.0.0 0.1.2');
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.ts
index 80dc1a5ed7..4b92c6b9cb 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.ts
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ export async function templatingTask(
   templateDir: string,
   destinationDir: string,
   context: any,
+  versions: { [name: string]: string },
 ) {
   const files = await recursive(templateDir).catch(error => {
     throw new Error(`Failed to read template directory: ${error.message}`);
@@ -85,7 +86,19 @@ export async function templatingTask(
 
         const template = await fs.readFile(file);
         const compiled = handlebars.compile(template.toString());
-        const contents = compiled({ name: basename(destination), ...context });
+        const contents = compiled(
+          { name: basename(destination), ...context },
+          {
+            helpers: {
+              version(name: string) {
+                if (versions[name]) {
+                  return versions[name];
+                }
+                throw new Error(`No version available for package ${name}`);
+              },
+            },
+          },
+        );
 
         await fs.writeFile(destination, contents).catch(error => {
           throw new Error(
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/version.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/version.ts
index 24734b87cc..5cc3eb7fbb 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/version.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/version.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,38 @@
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import { paths } from './paths';
 
+/* eslint-disable import/no-extraneous-dependencies,monorepo/no-internal-import */
+/*
+This is a list of all packages used by the templates. If dependencies are added or removed,
+this list should be updated as well.
+
+The list, and the accompanying devDependencies entries, are here to ensure correct versioning
+and bumping of this package. Without this list the version would not be bumped unless we
+manually trigger a release.
+
+This does not create an actual dependency on these packages and does not bring in any code.
+Rollup will extract the value of the version field in each package at build time without
+leaving any imports in place.
+*/
+
+import { version as backendCommon } from '@backstage/backend-common/package.json';
+import { version as cli } from '@backstage/cli/package.json';
+import { version as config } from '@backstage/config/package.json';
+import { version as core } from '@backstage/core/package.json';
+import { version as devUtils } from '@backstage/dev-utils/package.json';
+import { version as testUtils } from '@backstage/test-utils/package.json';
+import { version as theme } from '@backstage/theme/package.json';
+
+export const versions: { [name: string]: string } = {
+  '@backstage/backend-common': backendCommon,
+  '@backstage/cli': cli,
+  '@backstage/config': config,
+  '@backstage/core': core,
+  '@backstage/dev-utils': devUtils,
+  '@backstage/test-utils': testUtils,
+  '@backstage/theme': theme,
+};
+
 export function findVersion() {
   const pkgContent = fs.readFileSync(paths.resolveOwn('package.json'), 'utf8');
   return JSON.parse(pkgContent).version;
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/default-backend-plugin/package.json.hbs b/packages/cli/templates/default-backend-plugin/package.json.hbs
index 1a73515622..b762bb9645 100644
--- a/packages/cli/templates/default-backend-plugin/package.json.hbs
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/default-backend-plugin/package.json.hbs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "{{name}}",
-  "version": "{{version}}",
+  "version": "{{pluginVersion}}",
   "main": "src/index.ts",
   "types": "src/index.ts",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@
       "clean": "backstage-cli clean"
     },
     "dependencies": {
-      "@backstage/backend-common": "^{{backstageVersion}}",
-      "@backstage/config": "^{{backstageVersion}}",
+      "@backstage/backend-common": "^{{version '@backstage/backend-common'}}",
+      "@backstage/config": "^{{version '@backstage/config'}}",
       "@types/express": "^4.17.6",
       "express": "^4.17.1",
       "express-promise-router": "^3.0.3",
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
       "yn": "^4.0.0"
     },
     "devDependencies": {
-      "@backstage/cli": "^{{backstageVersion}}",
+      "@backstage/cli": "^{{version '@backstage/cli'}}",
       "@types/supertest": "^2.0.8",
       "supertest": "^4.0.2",
       "msw": "^0.21.2"
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs b/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs
index 41f942fb79..a3f924408a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "{{name}}",
-  "version": "{{version}}",
+  "version": "{{pluginVersion}}",
   "main": "src/index.ts",
   "types": "src/index.ts",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@
     "clean": "backstage-cli clean"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "@backstage/core": "^{{backstageVersion}}",
-    "@backstage/theme": "^{{backstageVersion}}",
+    "@backstage/core": "^{{version '@backstage/core'}}",
+    "@backstage/theme": "^{{version '@backstage/theme'}}",
     "@material-ui/core": "^4.11.0",
     "@material-ui/icons": "^4.9.1",
     "@material-ui/lab": "4.0.0-alpha.45",
@@ -34,9 +34,9 @@
     "react-use": "^15.3.3"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "@backstage/cli": "^{{backstageVersion}}",
-    "@backstage/dev-utils": "^{{backstageVersion}}",
-    "@backstage/test-utils": "^{{backstageVersion}}",
+    "@backstage/cli": "^{{version '@backstage/cli'}}",
+    "@backstage/dev-utils": "^{{version '@backstage/dev-utils'}}",
+    "@backstage/test-utils": "^{{version '@backstage/test-utils'}}",
     "@testing-library/jest-dom": "^5.10.1",
     "@testing-library/react": "^10.4.1",
     "@testing-library/user-event": "^12.0.7",