diff --git a/packages/cli/.npmignore b/packages/cli/.npmignore
index b3a75be01..f41feebec 100644
--- a/packages/cli/.npmignore
+++ b/packages/cli/.npmignore
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 .clang-format
 .github
 /.gitignore
-!/templates/*/*/.gitignore
 .travis.yml
 appveyor.yml
 node_modules
diff --git a/packages/cli/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/cli/CHANGELOG.md
index b109eddeb..aa48722ec 100644
--- a/packages/cli/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/cli/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 
 ## Unreleased
+* Fix bug with `init` templates and missing `.gitignore` files due to npm
+  renaming them to `.npmignore` on install of cli.
 * Fix `test` bug which broke Windows support relating to path delimeters.
 * Change the default value of --module-resolution to "node".
 * Polymer `lint` and `analyze`, when run without files, will look for sources
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/init/application/application.ts b/packages/cli/src/init/application/application.ts
index a0ee931d4..e4eaae53a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/init/application/application.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/init/application/application.ts
@@ -106,8 +106,9 @@ export function createApplicationGenerator(templateName: string):
           `test/${elementName}/${elementName}_test.html`,
           this.props);
 
-      this.fs.copyTpl(
-          this.templatePath('.gitignore'), '.gitignore', this.props);
+      this.fs.move(
+          this.destinationPath('gitignore'),
+          this.destinationPath('.gitignore'));
     }
 
     install() {
@@ -158,8 +159,9 @@ export function createApplicationGenerator(templateName: string):
           `test/${elementName}/${elementName}_test.html`,
           this.props);
 
-      this.fs.copyTpl(
-          this.templatePath('.gitignore'), '.gitignore', this.props);
+      this.fs.move(
+          this.destinationPath('gitignore'),
+          this.destinationPath('.gitignore'));
     }
 
     install() {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/init/element/element.ts b/packages/cli/src/init/element/element.ts
index df327a88d..bea07c71d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/init/element/element.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/init/element/element.ts
@@ -107,8 +107,9 @@ export function createElementGenerator(templateName: string):
       this.fs.copyTpl(
           this.templatePath('test/index.html'), `test/index.html`, this.props);
 
-      this.fs.copyTpl(
-          this.templatePath('.gitignore'), '.gitignore', this.props);
+      this.fs.move(
+          this.destinationPath('gitignore'),
+          this.destinationPath('.gitignore'));
     }
 
     install() {
@@ -160,8 +161,9 @@ export function createElementGenerator(templateName: string):
       this.fs.copyTpl(
           this.templatePath('test/index.html'), `test/index.html`, this.props);
 
-      this.fs.copyTpl(
-          this.templatePath('.gitignore'), '.gitignore', this.props);
+      this.fs.move(
+          this.destinationPath('gitignore'),
+          this.destinationPath('.gitignore'));
     }
 
     install() {
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/application/polymer-1.x/.gitignore b/packages/cli/templates/application/polymer-1.x/gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/cli/templates/application/polymer-1.x/.gitignore
rename to packages/cli/templates/application/polymer-1.x/gitignore
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/application/polymer-2.x/.gitignore b/packages/cli/templates/application/polymer-2.x/gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/cli/templates/application/polymer-2.x/.gitignore
rename to packages/cli/templates/application/polymer-2.x/gitignore
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/application/polymer-3.x/.gitignore b/packages/cli/templates/application/polymer-3.x/gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/cli/templates/application/polymer-3.x/.gitignore
rename to packages/cli/templates/application/polymer-3.x/gitignore
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/element/polymer-1.x/.gitignore b/packages/cli/templates/element/polymer-1.x/gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/cli/templates/element/polymer-1.x/.gitignore
rename to packages/cli/templates/element/polymer-1.x/gitignore
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/element/polymer-2.x/.gitignore b/packages/cli/templates/element/polymer-2.x/gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/cli/templates/element/polymer-2.x/.gitignore
rename to packages/cli/templates/element/polymer-2.x/gitignore
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/element/polymer-3.x/.gitignore b/packages/cli/templates/element/polymer-3.x/gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/cli/templates/element/polymer-3.x/.gitignore
rename to packages/cli/templates/element/polymer-3.x/gitignore