diff --git a/local-cli/util/Config.js b/local-cli/util/Config.js
index 7ba6b63837052b..a17645a27ca28a 100644
--- a/local-cli/util/Config.js
+++ b/local-cli/util/Config.js
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ const Config = {
     extraNodeModules: Object.create(null),
     getAssetExts: () => [],
     getBlacklistRE: () => blacklist(),
-    getEnableBabelRCLookup: () => true,
+    getEnableBabelRCLookup: () => false,
     getPlatforms: () => [],
     getPolyfillModuleNames: () => [],
     getProjectRoots: () => {