diff --git a/default.config.yml b/default.config.yml
index c5020f209..e3fcfc767 100644
--- a/default.config.yml
+++ b/default.config.yml
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ build_composer: false
 drupal_composer_path: "{{ config_dir }}/drupal.composer.json"
 drupal_composer_install_dir: "/var/www/drupalvm/drupal"
 drupal_composer_dependencies:
-  - "drupal/devel:8.*"
+  - "drupal/devel:1.x-dev"
 
 # Set this to 'true' and 'build_makefile', 'build_composer' to 'false' if you
 # are using Composer's create-project as a site deployment strategy.
diff --git a/example.drupal.composer.json b/example.drupal.composer.json
index 02eb9386d..e682239b2 100644
--- a/example.drupal.composer.json
+++ b/example.drupal.composer.json
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
     "require": {
         "composer/installers": "^1.0.20",
         "drupal-composer/drupal-scaffold": "^2.0.1",
-        "drupal/core": "~8.0",
-        "drupal/devel": "1.0.x-dev"
+        "drupal/core": "~8.1",
+        "drupal/devel": "1.x-dev"
     },
     "replace": {
         "drupal/drupal": "*"