diff --git a/package_manager/tests/src/Build/TemplateProjectTestBase.php b/package_manager/tests/src/Build/TemplateProjectTestBase.php
index fd8964881c6db272bc3fe07cc9fab91d66ec4fe4..ce32db46bc8f89e47242379052bedd05de9fdf83 100644
--- a/package_manager/tests/src/Build/TemplateProjectTestBase.php
+++ b/package_manager/tests/src/Build/TemplateProjectTestBase.php
@@ -384,12 +384,7 @@ END;
     // from being built correctly, among other deleterious effects. To prevent
     // such shenanigans, always remove drupal/automatic_updates from
     // drupal/core-recommended.
-    $file = $this->getWorkspaceDirectory() . '/composer/Metapackage/CoreRecommended/composer.json';
-    $this->assertFileIsWritable($file);
-    $data = file_get_contents($file);
-    $data = json_decode($data, TRUE);
-    unset($data['require']['drupal/automatic_updates']);
-    file_put_contents($file, json_encode($data, JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES | JSON_PRETTY_PRINT));
+    $this->runComposer('composer remove --no-update drupal/automatic_updates', 'composer/Metapackage/CoreRecommended');
   }
 
   // END: DELETE FROM CORE MERGE REQUEST