diff --git a/examples/cms-sanity/studio/copyEnv.js b/examples/cms-sanity/studio/copyEnv.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f8b877d9461d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/cms-sanity/studio/copyEnv.js
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+const fs = require('fs')
+
+if (fs.existsSync('../.env')) {
+  fs.copyFileSync('../.env', '.env.development')
+} else if (fs.existsSync('../.env.local')) {
+  fs.copyFileSync('../.env.local', '.env.development')
+} else {
+  throw new Error('No .env or .env.local file found at root of the project')
+}
diff --git a/examples/cms-sanity/studio/package.json b/examples/cms-sanity/studio/package.json
index b2c275cbfba2..d3591e67c02d 100644
--- a/examples/cms-sanity/studio/package.json
+++ b/examples/cms-sanity/studio/package.json
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     "deploy": "sanity deploy",
     "prestart": "npm run env",
     "predeploy": "npm run env",
-    "env": "cp ../.env .env.development || cp ../.env.local .env.development"
+    "env": "node copyEnv.js"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "sanity": "^3.2.6",