diff --git a/github/resource_github_repository.go b/github/resource_github_repository.go
index fa6e340abc..d2d1314d29 100644
--- a/github/resource_github_repository.go
+++ b/github/resource_github_repository.go
@@ -75,6 +75,14 @@ func resourceGithubRepository() *schema.Resource {
 				Computed:    true,
 				Description: "Can only be set after initial repository creation, and only if the target branch exists",
 			},
+			"license_template": {
+				Type:     schema.TypeString,
+				Optional: true,
+			},
+			"gitignore_template": {
+				Type:     schema.TypeString,
+				Optional: true,
+			},
 
 			"full_name": {
 				Type:     schema.TypeString,
@@ -112,19 +120,23 @@ func resourceGithubRepositoryObject(d *schema.ResourceData) *github.Repository {
 	allowRebaseMerge := d.Get("allow_rebase_merge").(bool)
 	hasDownloads := d.Get("has_downloads").(bool)
 	autoInit := d.Get("auto_init").(bool)
+	licenseTemplate := d.Get("license_template").(string)
+	gitIgnoreTemplate := d.Get("gitignore_template").(string)
 
 	repo := &github.Repository{
-		Name:             &name,
-		Description:      &description,
-		Homepage:         &homepageUrl,
-		Private:          &private,
-		HasIssues:        &hasIssues,
-		HasWiki:          &hasWiki,
-		AllowMergeCommit: &allowMergeCommit,
-		AllowSquashMerge: &allowSquashMerge,
-		AllowRebaseMerge: &allowRebaseMerge,
-		HasDownloads:     &hasDownloads,
-		AutoInit:         &autoInit,
+		Name:              &name,
+		Description:       &description,
+		Homepage:          &homepageUrl,
+		Private:           &private,
+		HasIssues:         &hasIssues,
+		HasWiki:           &hasWiki,
+		AllowMergeCommit:  &allowMergeCommit,
+		AllowSquashMerge:  &allowSquashMerge,
+		AllowRebaseMerge:  &allowRebaseMerge,
+		HasDownloads:      &hasDownloads,
+		AutoInit:          &autoInit,
+		LicenseTemplate:   &licenseTemplate,
+		GitignoreTemplate: &gitIgnoreTemplate,
 	}
 
 	return repo
@@ -189,8 +201,13 @@ func resourceGithubRepositoryUpdate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) er
 	client := meta.(*Organization).client
 	repoReq := resourceGithubRepositoryObject(d)
 	// Can only set `default_branch` on an already created repository with the target branches ref already in-place
-	defaultBranch := d.Get("default_branch").(string)
-	repoReq.DefaultBranch = &defaultBranch
+	if v, ok := d.GetOk("default_branch"); ok {
+		branch := v.(string)
+		// If branch is "master", and the repository hasn't been initialized yet, setting this value will fail
+		if branch != "master" {
+			repoReq.DefaultBranch = &branch
+		}
+	}
 
 	repoName := d.Id()
 	log.Printf("[DEBUG] update github repository %s/%s", meta.(*Organization).name, repoName)
diff --git a/github/resource_github_repository_test.go b/github/resource_github_repository_test.go
index 500aaea8f6..22cff2a595 100644
--- a/github/resource_github_repository_test.go
+++ b/github/resource_github_repository_test.go
@@ -137,6 +137,42 @@ func TestAccGithubRepository_defaultBranch(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestAccGithubRepository_templates(t *testing.T) {
+	var repo github.Repository
+	randString := acctest.RandStringFromCharSet(10, acctest.CharSetAlphaNum)
+	name := fmt.Sprintf("tf-acc-test-%s", randString)
+	description := fmt.Sprintf("Terraform acceptance tests %s", randString)
+
+	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
+		PreCheck:     func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
+		Providers:    testAccProviders,
+		CheckDestroy: testAccCheckGithubRepositoryDestroy,
+		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+			{
+				Config: testAccGithubRepositoryConfigTemplates(randString),
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					testAccCheckGithubRepositoryExists("github_repository.foo", &repo),
+					testAccCheckGithubRepositoryAttributes(&repo, &testAccGithubRepositoryExpectedAttributes{
+						Name:              name,
+						Description:       description,
+						Homepage:          "http://example.com/",
+						HasIssues:         true,
+						HasWiki:           true,
+						AllowMergeCommit:  true,
+						AutoInit:          true,
+						AllowSquashMerge:  false,
+						AllowRebaseMerge:  false,
+						HasDownloads:      true,
+						DefaultBranch:     "master",
+						LicenseTemplate:   "ms-pl",
+						GitignoreTemplate: "C++",
+					}),
+				),
+			},
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func testAccCheckGithubRepositoryExists(n string, repo *github.Repository) resource.TestCheckFunc {
 	return func(s *terraform.State) error {
 		rs, ok := s.RootModule().Resources[n]
@@ -161,19 +197,20 @@ func testAccCheckGithubRepositoryExists(n string, repo *github.Repository) resou
 }
 
 type testAccGithubRepositoryExpectedAttributes struct {
-	Name             string
-	Description      string
-	Homepage         string
-	Private          bool
-	HasIssues        bool
-	HasWiki          bool
-	AllowMergeCommit bool
-	AllowSquashMerge bool
-	AllowRebaseMerge bool
-	HasDownloads     bool
-	AutoInit         bool
-
-	DefaultBranch string
+	Name              string
+	Description       string
+	Homepage          string
+	Private           bool
+	HasIssues         bool
+	HasWiki           bool
+	AllowMergeCommit  bool
+	AllowSquashMerge  bool
+	AllowRebaseMerge  bool
+	HasDownloads      bool
+	AutoInit          bool
+	DefaultBranch     string
+	LicenseTemplate   string
+	GitignoreTemplate string
 }
 
 func testAccCheckGithubRepositoryAttributes(repo *github.Repository, want *testAccGithubRepositoryExpectedAttributes) resource.TestCheckFunc {
@@ -220,6 +257,18 @@ func testAccCheckGithubRepositoryAttributes(repo *github.Repository, want *testA
 			}
 		}
 
+		if repo.GitignoreTemplate != nil {
+			if *repo.GitignoreTemplate != want.GitignoreTemplate {
+				return fmt.Errorf("got gitignore_template %q; want %q", *repo.GitignoreTemplate, want.GitignoreTemplate)
+			}
+		}
+
+		if repo.LicenseTemplate != nil {
+			if *repo.LicenseTemplate != want.LicenseTemplate {
+				return fmt.Errorf("got license_template %q; want %q", *repo.LicenseTemplate, want.LicenseTemplate)
+			}
+		}
+
 		// For the rest of these, we just want to make sure they've been
 		// populated with something that seems somewhat reasonable.
 		if !strings.HasSuffix(*repo.FullName, "/"+want.Name) {
@@ -399,3 +448,27 @@ resource "github_repository" "foo" {
 }
 `, randString, randString)
 }
+
+func testAccGithubRepositoryConfigTemplates(randString string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf(`
+resource "github_repository" "foo" {
+  name = "tf-acc-test-%s"
+  description = "Terraform acceptance tests %s"
+  homepage_url = "http://example.com/"
+
+  # So that acceptance tests can be run in a github organization
+  # with no billing
+  private = false
+
+  has_issues = true
+  has_wiki = true
+  allow_merge_commit = true
+  allow_squash_merge = false
+  allow_rebase_merge = false
+  has_downloads = true
+
+  license_template = "ms-pl"
+  gitignore_template = "C++"
+}
+`, randString, randString)
+}
diff --git a/website/docs/r/repository.html.markdown b/website/docs/r/repository.html.markdown
index fc7850d6b2..699fab028e 100644
--- a/website/docs/r/repository.html.markdown
+++ b/website/docs/r/repository.html.markdown
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 * `auto_init` - (Optional) Meaningful only during create; set to `true` to
   produce an initial commit in the repository.
 
+* `gitignore_template` - (Optional) Meaningful only during create, will be ignored after repository creation. Use the [name of the template](https://github.com/github/gitignore) without the extension. For example, "Haskell".
+
+* `license_template` - (Optional) Meaningful only during create, will be ignored after repository creation. Use the [name of the template](https://github.com/github/choosealicense.com/tree/gh-pages/_licenses) without the extension. For example, "mit" or "mozilla".
+
 * `default_branch` - (Optional) The name of the default branch of the repository. **NOTE:** This can only be set after a repository has already been created,
 and after a correct reference has been created for the target branch inside the repository. This means a user will have to omit this parameter from the
 initial repository creation and create the target branch inside of the repository prior to setting this attribute.