diff --git a/e2e/utils/index.ts b/e2e/utils/index.ts
index 762485f3c3..647df192c9 100644
--- a/e2e/utils/index.ts
+++ b/e2e/utils/index.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ export function currentCli() {
 
 let projName: string;
 
-export function setCurrentProjName(name: string) {
+function setCurrentProjName(name: string) {
   projName = name;
   return name;
 }
@@ -42,19 +42,25 @@ export function runCreateWorkspace(
     style,
     base,
     packageManager,
+    cli,
   }: {
     preset: string;
     appName?: string;
     style?: string;
     base?: string;
     packageManager?: string;
+    cli?: string;
   }
 ) {
+  setCurrentProjName(name);
+
   const linterArg =
     preset === 'angular' || preset === 'angular-nest' ? ' --linter=tslint' : '';
   let command = `npx create-nx-workspace@${
     process.env.PUBLISHED_VERSION
-  } ${name} --cli=${currentCli()} --preset=${preset} ${linterArg} --no-nxCloud --no-interactive`;
+  } ${name} --cli=${
+    cli || currentCli()
+  } --preset=${preset} ${linterArg} --no-nxCloud --no-interactive`;
   if (appName) {
     command += ` --appName=${appName}`;
   }
diff --git a/e2e/workspace/src/create-nx-workspace.test.ts b/e2e/workspace/src/create-nx-workspace.test.ts
index 17cabf9df3..ff5556c072 100644
--- a/e2e/workspace/src/create-nx-workspace.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/workspace/src/create-nx-workspace.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
-import { runCreateWorkspace, uniq } from '@nrwl/e2e/utils';
+import {
+  checkFilesDoNotExist,
+  checkFilesExist,
+  readJson,
+  runCreateWorkspace,
+  uniq,
+} from '@nrwl/e2e/utils';
 import { existsSync, mkdirSync } from 'fs-extra';
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
 
@@ -8,6 +14,15 @@ describe('create-nx-workspace', () => {
     runCreateWorkspace(wsName, {
       preset: 'empty',
     });
+
+    checkFilesExist(
+      'workspace.json',
+      'package.json',
+      'package-lock.json',
+      'apps/.gitkeep',
+      'libs/.gitkeep'
+    );
+    checkFilesDoNotExist('yarn.lock');
   });
 
   it('should be able to create an oss workspace', () => {
@@ -110,4 +125,35 @@ describe('create-nx-workspace', () => {
 
     expect(existsSync(`${tmpDir}/${wsName}/package.json`)).toBeTruthy();
   });
+
+  it('should respect package manager preference', () => {
+    const wsName = uniq('pm');
+    const appName = uniq('app');
+    runCreateWorkspace(wsName, {
+      preset: 'react',
+      style: 'css',
+      appName,
+      packageManager: 'yarn',
+    });
+
+    checkFilesExist('yarn.lock');
+    checkFilesDoNotExist('package-lock.json');
+  });
+
+  it('should store package manager preference for angular cli', () => {
+    const wsName = uniq('pm');
+    const appName = uniq('app');
+    runCreateWorkspace(wsName, {
+      preset: 'angular',
+      appName,
+      style: 'css',
+      packageManager: 'yarn',
+      cli: 'angular',
+    });
+
+    const workspaceJson = readJson('angular.json');
+    expect(workspaceJson.cli.packageManager).toEqual('yarn');
+    checkFilesExist('yarn.lock');
+    checkFilesDoNotExist('package-lock.json');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/e2e/workspace/src/custom-layout.test.ts b/e2e/workspace/src/custom-layout.test.ts
index b5e3f38792..ebe6bec59e 100644
--- a/e2e/workspace/src/custom-layout.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/workspace/src/custom-layout.test.ts
@@ -5,14 +5,13 @@ import {
   runCLI,
   runCLIAsync,
   runCreateWorkspace,
-  setCurrentProjName,
   uniq,
   yarnAdd,
 } from '@nrwl/e2e/utils';
 
 describe('custom workspace layout', () => {
   it('should work', async () => {
-    const proj = setCurrentProjName(uniq('custom-layout-proj'));
+    const proj = uniq('custom-layout-proj');
     runCreateWorkspace(proj, { preset: 'oss' });
     yarnAdd('@nrwl/react @nrwl/angular @nrwl/express');
 
diff --git a/packages/workspace/src/schematics/shared-new/shared-new.ts b/packages/workspace/src/schematics/shared-new/shared-new.ts
index 9f6b993ec0..f907e0f71a 100644
--- a/packages/workspace/src/schematics/shared-new/shared-new.ts
+++ b/packages/workspace/src/schematics/shared-new/shared-new.ts
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ export function sharedNew(cli: string, options: Schema): Rule {
 
     return chain([
       schematic('workspace', { ...workspaceOpts, cli }),
+      cli === 'angular' ? setDefaultPackageManager(options) : noop(),
       setDefaultLinter(options),
       addPresetDependencies(options),
       addCloudDependencies(options),
@@ -327,3 +328,17 @@ function setTSLintDefault() {
     return json;
   });
 }
+
+function setDefaultPackageManager({ packageManager }: Schema) {
+  if (!packageManager) {
+    return noop();
+  }
+
+  return updateWorkspaceInTree((json) => {
+    if (!json.cli) {
+      json.cli = {};
+    }
+    json.cli['packageManager'] = packageManager;
+    return json;
+  });
+}