diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/package.json b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/package.json
index d7829197e3..534fcba169 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/package.json
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/package.json
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@
     "globby": "^11.0.0",
     "handlebars": "^4.7.6",
     "helmet": "^4.0.0",
+    "isbinaryfile": "^4.0.8",
     "isomorphic-git": "^1.8.0",
     "jsonschema": "^1.2.6",
     "knex": "^0.95.1",
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/fetch/template.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/fetch/template.ts
index 0c9b997746..58a14a3da5 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/fetch/template.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/fetch/template.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import { createTemplateAction } from '../../createTemplateAction';
 import globby from 'globby';
 import nunjucks from 'nunjucks';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
+import { isBinaryFile } from 'isbinaryfile';
 
 /*
  * Maximise compatibility with Jinja (and therefore cookiecutter)
@@ -196,6 +197,7 @@ export function createFetchTemplateAction(options: {
 
       for (const location of allEntriesInTemplate) {
         const isTemplated = !nonTemplatedEntries.has(location);
+
         const outputPath = resolvePath(
           outputDir,
           isTemplated ? templater.renderString(location, parameters) : location,
@@ -215,9 +217,16 @@ export function createFetchTemplateAction(options: {
             'utf-8',
           );
 
+          const isBinary = await isBinaryFile(Buffer.from(inputFileContents));
+          if (isBinary) {
+            ctx.logger.info(
+              `Not running templater on contents of ${location} since it is a binary file.`,
+            );
+          }
+
           await fs.outputFile(
             outputPath,
-            isTemplated
+            isTemplated && !isBinary
               ? templater.renderString(inputFileContents, parameters)
               : inputFileContents,
           );
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 96299709e4..accbe9389c 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -15996,6 +15996,11 @@ isarray@^2.0.5:
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/isarray/-/isarray-2.0.5.tgz#8af1e4c1221244cc62459faf38940d4e644a5723"
   integrity sha512-xHjhDr3cNBK0BzdUJSPXZntQUx/mwMS5Rw4A7lPJ90XGAO6ISP/ePDNuo0vhqOZU+UD5JoodwCAAoZQd3FeAKw==
 
+isbinaryfile@^4.0.8:
+  version "4.0.8"
+  resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/isbinaryfile/-/isbinaryfile-4.0.8.tgz#5d34b94865bd4946633ecc78a026fc76c5b11fcf"
+  integrity sha512-53h6XFniq77YdW+spoRrebh0mnmTxRPTlcuIArO57lmMdq4uBKFKaeTjnb92oYWrSn/LVL+LT+Hap2tFQj8V+w==
+
 isexe@^2.0.0:
   version "2.0.0"
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/isexe/-/isexe-2.0.0.tgz#e8fbf374dc556ff8947a10dcb0572d633f2cfa10"