diff --git a/phing/files/deploy-exclude.txt b/phing/files/deploy-exclude.txt
index 3a63740b0..2adbbb6a8 100644
--- a/phing/files/deploy-exclude.txt
+++ b/phing/files/deploy-exclude.txt
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 /drush.wrapper
 /README.md
 /readme
+/sites/development.services.yml
 /tests
 /tmp
 /Vagrantfile
diff --git a/phing/tasks/blt.xml b/phing/tasks/blt.xml
index d85e443ae..b759cc6cf 100644
--- a/phing/tasks/blt.xml
+++ b/phing/tasks/blt.xml
@@ -29,14 +29,13 @@
 
   <target name="blt:rsync-template" hidden="true">
     <echo>Copying files from BLT's template into your project.</echo>
-    <!-- @todo Do not overwrite structured or executable files. Instead, update them intelligently settings.php, drush.wrapper etc. -->
     <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="rsync -a --no-g ${blt.root}/template/ ${repo.root}/ --exclude-from=${blt.update.ignore-existing-file}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
 
     <!--Rsync files without overwriting existing-->
     <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="rsync -a --no-g ${blt.root}/template/ ${repo.root}/ --include-from=${blt.update.ignore-existing-file} --ignore-existing" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
   </target>
 
-  <target name="update" depends="blt:rsync-template, blt:update-composer, blt:update-yml, setup:drupal:settings" hidden="true">
+  <target name="update" depends="blt:rsync-template, blt:update-composer, blt:update-yml" hidden="true">
     <phingcall target="install-alias">
       <property name="create_alias" value="true"/>
     </phingcall>
diff --git a/phing/tasks/setup.xml b/phing/tasks/setup.xml
index 384141175..43c3bc675 100644
--- a/phing/tasks/setup.xml
+++ b/phing/tasks/setup.xml
@@ -68,6 +68,14 @@
     <if>
       <not><available file="${docroot}/sites/default/settings.php"/></not>
       <then>
+        <if>
+          <not><available file="${docroot}/sites/default/default.settings.php"/></not>
+          <then>
+            <echo level="verbose">Download scaffold files so that default.settings.php is available.</echo>
+            <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="composer drupal-scaffold" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true" />
+          </then>
+        </if>
+
         <echo>Generating settings.php from default.settings.php.</echo>
         <copy file="${docroot}/sites/default/default.settings.php" tofile="${docroot}/sites/default/settings.php" verbose="true"/>
       </then>
diff --git a/template/composer.json b/template/composer.json
index a6f243c48..e2a51a326 100644
--- a/template/composer.json
+++ b/template/composer.json
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
         }
     ],
     "require": {
-
         "cweagans/composer-patches":                  "dev-master#5456199acdcc16b243814aa45259f4c56272a634 as 1.5.0",
         "drupal/acquia_connector":                    "^8.1.5",
         "drupal/acsf":                                "^8.1.32",
@@ -43,21 +42,24 @@
         "blt": {
             "update": true
         },
+        "drupal-scaffold": {
+            "initial": {
+                "sites/default/default.services.yml": "sites/default/services.yml",
+                "sites/default/default.settings.php": "sites/default/settings.php"
+            }
+        },
+        "enable-patching": true,
         "installer-paths": {
             "docroot/core":                     ["type:drupal-core"],
             "docroot/modules/contrib/{$name}":  ["type:drupal-module"],
             "docroot/profiles/contrib/{$name}": ["type:drupal-profile"],
             "docroot/themes/contrib/{$name}":   ["type:drupal-theme"],
             "drush/contrib/{$name}":            ["type:drupal-drush"]
-        },
-        "patches": {
-            "drupal/core": {
-                "Ignore front end vendor folders to improve directory search performance": "https://www.drupal.org/files/issues/ignore_front_end_vendor-2329453-116.patch"
-            }
         }
     },
     "scripts": {
         "blt-alias": "blt install-alias -Dcreate_alias=true",
+        "drupal-scaffold": "DrupalComposer\\DrupalScaffold\\Plugin::scaffold",
         "nuke": [
             "rm -rf vendor composer.lock",
             "@composer clearcache",