diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/TemplateCommandUtil.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/TemplateCommandUtil.scala
index f06609972..915281fd5 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/TemplateCommandUtil.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/TemplateCommandUtil.scala
@@ -53,8 +53,14 @@ private[sbt] object TemplateCommandUtil {
     def terminate = TerminateAction :: s1.copy(remainingCommands = Nil)
     def reload = "reboot" :: s1.copy(remainingCommands = Nil)
     if (args0.nonEmpty) {
-      run(infos, args0, s0.configuration, lm, globalBase, scalaModuleInfo, log)
-      terminate
+      args0 match {
+        case arg :: Nil if arg.endsWith(".local") =>
+          extracted.runInputTask(Keys.templateRunLocal, " " + arg, s0)
+          reload
+        case _ =>
+          run(infos, args0, s0.configuration, lm, globalBase, scalaModuleInfo, log)
+          terminate
+      }
     } else {
       fortifyArgs(templateDescriptions.toList) match {
         case Nil => terminate
diff --git a/main/src/test/scala/sbt/TemplateCommandUtilTest.scala b/main/src/test/scala/sbt/TemplateCommandUtilTest.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d0b490322
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/src/test/scala/sbt/TemplateCommandUtilTest.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/*
+ * sbt
+ * Copyright 2023, Scala center
+ * Copyright 2011 - 2022, Lightbend, Inc.
+ * Copyright 2008 - 2010, Mark Harrah
+ * Licensed under Apache License 2.0 (see LICENSE)
+ */
+
+package sbt
+
+import sbt.util.Logger
+
+object TemplateCommandUtilTest extends verify.BasicTestSuite:
+
+  private val localTemplateSlugs = List(
+    "scala/toolkit.local",
+    "typelevel/toolkit.local",
+    "sbt/cross-platform.local"
+  )
+
+  test("defaultTemplateDescriptions includes all built-in local template slugs"):
+    val slugs = TemplateCommandUtil.defaultTemplateDescriptions.map(_._1)
+    for slug <- localTemplateSlugs do
+      assert(slugs.contains(slug), s"defaultTemplateDescriptions should contain '$slug'")
+
+  test("defaultRunLocalTemplate throws for unknown .local slug"):
+    val log = Logger.Null
+    val ex =
+      try {
+        TemplateCommandUtil.defaultRunLocalTemplate(List("unknown/template.local"), log)
+        null
+      } catch { case e: IllegalArgumentException => e }
+    assert(ex ne null)
+    assert(ex.getMessage.contains("Local template not found for:"))
+    assert(ex.getMessage.contains("unknown/template.local"))
diff --git a/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/lm-coursier/tests-classifier/build.sbt b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/lm-coursier/tests-classifier/build.sbt
index bee4bee2b..98ca7556a 100644
--- a/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/lm-coursier/tests-classifier/build.sbt
+++ b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/lm-coursier/tests-classifier/build.sbt
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ lazy val b = project
     classpathTypes += "test-jar",
     libraryDependencies ++= Seq(
       org %% nme % ver,
-      org %% nme % ver % "test" classifier "tests"
+      (org %% nme % ver % "test").classifier("tests")
     )
   )