diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/init-templates/app/typescript/cdk.template.json b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/init-templates/app/typescript/cdk.template.json
index 8c81ca271b7d6..8442bd8052356 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/init-templates/app/typescript/cdk.template.json
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/init-templates/app/typescript/cdk.template.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  "app": "./node_modules/.bin/ts-node bin/%name%.ts"
+  "app": "npx ts-node bin/%name%.ts"
 }
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/init-templates/sample-app/typescript/cdk.template.json b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/init-templates/sample-app/typescript/cdk.template.json
index 8c81ca271b7d6..8442bd8052356 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/init-templates/sample-app/typescript/cdk.template.json
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/init-templates/sample-app/typescript/cdk.template.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  "app": "./node_modules/.bin/ts-node bin/%name%.ts"
+  "app": "npx ts-node bin/%name%.ts"
 }