diff --git a/cli/src/commands/init.js b/cli/src/commands/init.js
index 6a6623416..f12d10df0 100644
--- a/cli/src/commands/init.js
+++ b/cli/src/commands/init.js
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ const handler = async ({ force, name, cwd, lib }) => {
     }
 
     reporter.info('Creating package scripts...')
-    const pkg = require(paths.package)
+    const pkg = fs.readJsonSync(paths.package)
     if (pkg.scripts && pkg.scripts.build && !force) {
         reporter.warn(
             'A script called "build" already exists, use --force to overwrite it'
diff --git a/cli/src/lib/parseConfig.js b/cli/src/lib/parseConfig.js
index 044dcde84..fe06c64ca 100644
--- a/cli/src/lib/parseConfig.js
+++ b/cli/src/lib/parseConfig.js
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ const parseConfig = paths => {
         config = defaultsDeep(config, require(defaults))
 
         if (fs.existsSync(paths.package)) {
-            const pkg = require(paths.package)
+            const pkg = fs.readJsonSync(paths.package)
             config.name = config.name || pkg.name
             config.version = config.version || pkg.version
             config.author = config.author || parseAuthor(pkg.author)
diff --git a/cli/src/lib/validatePackage.js b/cli/src/lib/validatePackage.js
index 1eee01460..953a5a6a2 100644
--- a/cli/src/lib/validatePackage.js
+++ b/cli/src/lib/validatePackage.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 const { reporter, chalk } = require('@dhis2/cli-helpers-engine')
+const fs = require('fs-extra')
 const {
     validatePackageExports,
 } = require('./validators/validatePackageExports')
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ module.exports.validatePackage = async ({
 
     let pkg
     try {
-        pkg = require(paths.package)
+        pkg = fs.readJsonSync(paths.package)
     } catch (e) {
         reporter.error(`Failed to load package manifest at ${paths.package}`)
         return false