diff --git a/local-cli/init/init.js b/local-cli/init/init.js
index 30209bc9485..d7497a4a828 100644
--- a/local-cli/init/init.js
+++ b/local-cli/init/init.js
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ function generateProject(destinationRoot, newProjectName, options) {
     });
   }
   if (!options['skip-jest']) {
-    const jestDeps = `jest babel-jest react-test-renderer@${reactVersion}`;
+    const jestDeps = `jest babel-jest babel-preset-react-native@^5 react-test-renderer@${reactVersion}`;
     if (yarnVersion) {
       console.log('Adding Jest...');
       execSync(`yarn add ${jestDeps} --dev --exact`, {stdio: 'inherit'});
diff --git a/local-cli/templates/HelloWorld/_babelrc b/local-cli/templates/HelloWorld/_babelrc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a9ce1369e61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/local-cli/templates/HelloWorld/_babelrc
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  "presets": ["react-native"]
+}