diff --git a/flytekit/clis/sdk_in_container/init.py b/flytekit/clis/sdk_in_container/init.py
index 627b393578..23df6ab62d 100644
--- a/flytekit/clis/sdk_in_container/init.py
+++ b/flytekit/clis/sdk_in_container/init.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 @click.command("init")
 @click.option(
     "--template",
-    default="simple-example",
+    default="basic-template-imagespec",
     help="cookiecutter template folder name to be used in the repo - https://github.com/flyteorg/flytekit-python-template.git",
 )
 @click.argument("project-name")
diff --git a/tests/flytekit/unit/cli/pyflyte/test_init.py b/tests/flytekit/unit/cli/pyflyte/test_init.py
index 0a66433625..97d24ca50d 100644
--- a/tests/flytekit/unit/cli/pyflyte/test_init.py
+++ b/tests/flytekit/unit/cli/pyflyte/test_init.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
     "command",
     [
         ["example"],
-        ["example", "--template", "simple-example"],
+        ["example", "--template", "basic-template-imagespec"],
         ["example", "--template", "bayesian-optimization"],
     ],
 )