diff --git a/packages/create-redwood-app/build.mjs b/packages/create-redwood-app/build.mjs
index 5b7640812720..9cdd1a069063 100644
--- a/packages/create-redwood-app/build.mjs
+++ b/packages/create-redwood-app/build.mjs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ const result = await esbuild.build({
   bundle: true,
   minify: true,
 
+  format: 'esm',
   platform: 'node',
   target: ['node18'],
   packages: 'external',
diff --git a/packages/create-redwood-app/package.json b/packages/create-redwood-app/package.json
index 223a584c6d3d..d935b0b6b415 100644
--- a/packages/create-redwood-app/package.json
+++ b/packages/create-redwood-app/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "create-redwood-app",
   "version": "5.0.0",
+  "type": "module",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
     "url": "/~https://github.com/redwoodjs/redwood.git",
diff --git a/packages/create-redwood-app/src/create-redwood-app.js b/packages/create-redwood-app/src/create-redwood-app.js
index 057841d2568f..1dbcd6640e72 100644
--- a/packages/create-redwood-app/src/create-redwood-app.js
+++ b/packages/create-redwood-app/src/create-redwood-app.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 
-import path from 'path'
+import path from 'node:path'
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
 
 import { trace, SpanStatusCode } from '@opentelemetry/api'
 import chalk from 'chalk'
@@ -14,14 +15,22 @@ import yargs from 'yargs/yargs'
 
 import { RedwoodTUI, ReactiveTUIContent, RedwoodStyling } from '@redwoodjs/tui'
 
-import { name, version } from '../package'
-
+// In ESM, for relative paths, the extension is important.
+// See https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v18.x/docs/api/esm.html#mandatory-file-extensions.
 import {
   UID,
   startTelemetry,
   shutdownTelemetry,
   recordErrorViaTelemetry,
-} from './telemetry'
+} from './telemetry.js'
+
+// JSON modules aren't stable yet, but if they were we could use them instead.
+// See https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v18.x/docs/api/esm.html#json-modules.
+const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
+
+const { name, version } = fs.readJSONSync(
+  path.resolve(__dirname, '../package.json')
+)
 
 // Telemetry
 const { telemetry } = Parser(hideBin(process.argv))
@@ -168,7 +177,7 @@ async function executeCompatibilityCheck(templateDir) {
  */
 function checkNodeAndYarnVersion(templateDir) {
   return new Promise((resolve) => {
-    const { engines } = require(path.join(templateDir, 'package.json'))
+    const { engines } = fs.readJSONSync(path.join(templateDir, 'package.json'))
 
     checkNodeVersionCb(engines, (_error, result) => {
       return resolve([result.isSatisfied, result.versions])
diff --git a/packages/create-redwood-app/src/telemetry.js b/packages/create-redwood-app/src/telemetry.js
index 973f1889e105..ffb648447410 100644
--- a/packages/create-redwood-app/src/telemetry.js
+++ b/packages/create-redwood-app/src/telemetry.js
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+import path from 'node:path'
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
+
 import { diag, DiagConsoleLogger, DiagLogLevel } from '@opentelemetry/api'
 import opentelemetry, { SpanStatusCode } from '@opentelemetry/api'
 import { OTLPTraceExporter } from '@opentelemetry/exporter-trace-otlp-http'
@@ -9,10 +12,15 @@ import {
 import { SemanticResourceAttributes } from '@opentelemetry/semantic-conventions'
 import ci from 'ci-info'
 import envinfo from 'envinfo'
+import fs from 'fs-extra'
 import system from 'systeminformation'
 import { v4 as uuidv4 } from 'uuid'
 
-import { name as packageName, version as packageVersion } from '../package'
+// JSON modules aren't stable yet, but if they were we could use them instead.
+// See https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v18.x/docs/api/esm.html#json-modules.
+const { name: packageName, version: packageVersion } = fs.readJSONSync(
+  path.resolve(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '../package.json')
+)
 
 /**
  * @type NodeTracerProvider