diff --git a/boilerplate.js b/boilerplate.js
index def58fcc..b74517ba 100644
--- a/boilerplate.js
+++ b/boilerplate.js
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ async function install(context) {
   // remove the __tests__ directory, App.js, and unnecessary config files that come with React Native
   const filesToRemove = [
     ".babelrc",
+    "babel.config.js",
     ".buckconfig",
     ".eslintrc.js",
     ".prettierrc.js",
@@ -131,7 +132,7 @@ async function install(context) {
     { template: ".env.example", target: ".env" },
     { template: ".prettierignore", target: ".prettierignore" },
     { template: ".solidarity", target: ".solidarity" },
-    { template: ".babelrc", target: ".babelrc" },
+    { template: "babel.config.js", target: "babel.config.js" },
     { template: "react-native.config.js", target: "react-native.config.js" },
     { template: "tsconfig.json", target: "tsconfig.json" },
     { template: "app/app.tsx.ejs", target: "app/app.tsx" },
diff --git a/boilerplate/.babelrc b/boilerplate/.babelrc
deleted file mode 100644
index a9e56b24..00000000
--- a/boilerplate/.babelrc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "presets": ["module:metro-react-native-babel-preset", "module:react-native-dotenv"],
-  "env": {
-    "production": {}
-  },
-  "plugins": [
-    [
-      "@babel/plugin-proposal-decorators",
-      {
-        "legacy": true
-      }
-    ],
-    ["@babel/plugin-proposal-optional-catch-binding"]
-  ]
-}
diff --git a/boilerplate/babel.config.js b/boilerplate/babel.config.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d1fbc455
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boilerplate/babel.config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+module.exports = {
+  presets: ["module:metro-react-native-babel-preset", "module:react-native-dotenv"],
+  env: {
+    production: {}
+  },
+  plugins: [
+    [
+      "@babel/plugin-proposal-decorators",
+      {
+        legacy: true
+      }
+    ],
+    ["@babel/plugin-proposal-optional-catch-binding"]
+  ]
+}