diff --git a/packages/create-commandkit/src/index.ts b/packages/create-commandkit/src/index.ts
index c2a818cd..dafccbbb 100755
--- a/packages/create-commandkit/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/create-commandkit/src/index.ts
@@ -132,9 +132,6 @@ Examples:
     process.exit(1);
   }
 
-  // Determine package manager
-  const manager = resolvePackageManager(cliOptions);
-
   // Get Discord token
   let token: string;
   if (cliOptions.yes) {
@@ -158,9 +155,13 @@ Examples:
 
   outro(colors.cyan('Setup complete.'));
 
+  const example = cliOptions.example || getDefaultExample(cliOptions);
+
+  // Determine package manager
+  const manager = resolvePackageManager(cliOptions, example);
+
   // Fetch example from GitHub
   try {
-    const example = cliOptions.example || getDefaultExample(cliOptions);
     await fetchExample({
       example,
       examplePath: cliOptions.examplePath,
diff --git a/packages/create-commandkit/src/utils.ts b/packages/create-commandkit/src/utils.ts
index f897cb47..a28e0e81 100644
--- a/packages/create-commandkit/src/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/create-commandkit/src/utils.ts
@@ -34,15 +34,18 @@ export function getPackageManagerFromCLI(options: {
   return null;
 }
 
-export function resolvePackageManager(cliOptions: {
-  useNpm?: boolean;
-  usePnpm?: boolean;
-  useYarn?: boolean;
-  useBun?: boolean;
-  useDeno?: boolean;
-}): PackageManager {
+export function resolvePackageManager(
+  cliOptions: {
+    useNpm?: boolean;
+    usePnpm?: boolean;
+    useYarn?: boolean;
+    useBun?: boolean;
+    useDeno?: boolean;
+  },
+  name: string,
+): PackageManager {
   const cliManager = getPackageManagerFromCLI(cliOptions);
-  return cliManager || detectPackageManager();
+  return cliManager || (isDenoProject(name) ? 'deno' : detectPackageManager());
 }
 
 export function getDefaultExample(cliOptions: CLIOptions): string {
@@ -139,3 +142,12 @@ export async function fetchAvailableExamples(): Promise<string[]> {
     return ['basic-ts', 'basic-js', 'deno-ts', 'without-cli'];
   }
 }
+
+export function isDenoProject(example: string): boolean {
+  const isOfficial = isOfficialExample(example);
+  // if it's not an official example, we can assume it's not a Deno project
+  // the user may use --use-deno to force a Deno project
+  if (!isOfficial) return false;
+
+  return example.startsWith('deno-') || example.startsWith('with-deno-');
+}