diff --git a/e2e/__tests__/__snapshots__/legacyInit.test.js.snap b/e2e/__tests__/__snapshots__/legacyInit.test.js.snap
index f78d5e2b4..2f5b89897 100644
--- a/e2e/__tests__/__snapshots__/legacyInit.test.js.snap
+++ b/e2e/__tests__/__snapshots__/legacyInit.test.js.snap
@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@ Object {
     "react-native": "0.59.3",
   },
   "devDependencies": Object {
-    "@babel/core": "^7.4.0",
-    "@babel/runtime": "^7.4.2",
-    "babel-jest": "^24.6.0",
-    "jest": "^24.6.0",
+    "@babel/core": "^7.4.3",
+    "@babel/runtime": "^7.4.3",
+    "babel-jest": "^24.7.0",
+    "jest": "^24.7.0",
     "metro-react-native-babel-preset": "^0.53.1",
     "react-test-renderer": "16.8.3",
   },
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/init/__tests__/editTemplate.test.js b/packages/cli/src/commands/init/__tests__/editTemplate.test.js
index 8917c54d4..f664d2557 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/init/__tests__/editTemplate.test.js
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/init/__tests__/editTemplate.test.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import path from 'path';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import snapshotDiff from 'snapshot-diff';
 import walk from '../../../tools/walk';
+import copyFiles from '../../../tools/copyFiles';
 import {changePlaceholderInTemplate} from '../editTemplate';
 
 const FIXTURE_DIR = path.resolve(
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ function createTestEnv() {
   const testPath = path.resolve(tmpDir, TEST_DIR);
 
   fs.mkdirSync(testPath);
-  fs.copySync(FIXTURE_DIR, testPath);
+  copyFiles(FIXTURE_DIR, testPath);
 
   return testPath;
 }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/init/__tests__/template.test.js b/packages/cli/src/commands/init/__tests__/template.test.js
index 73590ce17..657a2ca1f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/init/__tests__/template.test.js
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/init/__tests__/template.test.js
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 // @flow
-import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import path from 'path';
 import ChildProcess from 'child_process';
 import * as PackageManger from '../../../tools/PackageManager';
@@ -9,6 +8,7 @@ import {
   copyTemplate,
   executePostInitScript,
 } from '../template';
+import * as copyFiles from '../../../tools/copyFiles';
 
 const TEMPLATE_NAME = 'templateName';
 
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ test('copyTemplate', () => {
   const CWD = '.';
 
   jest.spyOn(path, 'resolve').mockImplementationOnce((...e) => e.join('/'));
-  jest.spyOn(fs, 'copySync').mockImplementationOnce(() => {});
+  jest.spyOn(copyFiles, 'default').mockImplementationOnce(() => {});
   jest.spyOn(process, 'cwd').mockImplementationOnce(() => CWD);
 
   copyTemplate(TEMPLATE_NAME, TEMPLATE_DIR);
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ test('copyTemplate', () => {
     TEMPLATE_NAME,
     TEMPLATE_DIR,
   );
-  expect(fs.copySync).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.any(String), CWD);
+  expect(copyFiles.default).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.any(String), CWD);
 });
 
 test('executePostInitScript', () => {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/init/template.js b/packages/cli/src/commands/init/template.js
index 40c670487..dd7180ece 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/init/template.js
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/init/template.js
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 // @flow
 import {execFileSync} from 'child_process';
-import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import path from 'path';
 import * as PackageManager from '../../tools/PackageManager';
 import logger from '../../tools/logger';
+import copyFiles from '../../tools/copyFiles';
 
 export type TemplateConfig = {
   placeholderName: string,
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ export function copyTemplate(templateName: string, templateDir: string) {
 
   logger.debug(`Copying template from ${templatePath}`);
 
-  fs.copySync(templatePath, process.cwd());
+  copyFiles(templatePath, process.cwd());
 }
 
 export function executePostInitScript(
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/tools/copyFiles.js b/packages/cli/src/tools/copyFiles.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c94581f78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/tools/copyFiles.js
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ *
+ * @flow
+ */
+
+import path from 'path';
+import copyAndReplace from './copyAndReplace';
+import walk from './walk';
+
+/**
+ * Copy files (binary included) recursively.
+ */
+function copyFiles(srcPath: string, destPath: string) {
+  walk(srcPath).forEach(absoluteSrcFilePath => {
+    const relativeFilePath = path.relative(srcPath, absoluteSrcFilePath);
+    copyAndReplace(
+      absoluteSrcFilePath,
+      path.resolve(destPath, relativeFilePath),
+      {}, // no replacements
+    );
+  });
+}
+
+export default copyFiles;