diff --git a/.github/workflows/template-test.yml b/.github/workflows/template-test-current.yml
similarity index 88%
rename from .github/workflows/template-test.yml
rename to .github/workflows/template-test-current.yml
index aa6427e9d2..bafe90216d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/template-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/template-test-current.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ permissions:
 
 jobs:
   template_test:
-    name: Template tool test
+    name: Template tool test - current (unreleased) templates
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
diff --git a/.github/workflows/template-test-released.yml b/.github/workflows/template-test-released.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5e256dd39f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/template-test-released.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+name: CI
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - master
+  pull_request:
+
+permissions:
+  checks: write
+  pull-requests: write
+
+jobs:
+  template_test:
+    name: Template tool test - released contracts
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      - uses: actions-rs/toolchain@v1
+        with:
+          default: true
+          toolchain: nightly-2023-08-08
+      - name: Run template tool test
+        run: |
+          cd framework/meta
+          cargo test --features template-test-released
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3f6e39d9a1..e50fdfaa61 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ my-vm-tests.sh
 quick.sh
 twiggy*
 template-test
-template-test-current
 
 # Zip output with example wasm binaries
 examples-wasm.zip
diff --git a/framework/meta/Cargo.toml b/framework/meta/Cargo.toml
index f6fb8b4764..c035a2aeb2 100644
--- a/framework/meta/Cargo.toml
+++ b/framework/meta/Cargo.toml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ path = "src/main.rs"
 
 [features]
 template-test-current = []
+template-test-released = []
 
 [dependencies]
 tokio = { version = "1.24", features = ["full"] }
diff --git a/framework/meta/src/cargo_toml_contents.rs b/framework/meta/src/cargo_toml_contents.rs
index 00d388f7b2..2a7c944208 100644
--- a/framework/meta/src/cargo_toml_contents.rs
+++ b/framework/meta/src/cargo_toml_contents.rs
@@ -84,6 +84,10 @@ impl CargoTomlContents {
         }
     }
 
+    pub fn has_dependencies(&self) -> bool {
+        self.toml_value.get(CARGO_TOML_DEPENDENCIES).is_some()
+    }
+
     pub fn dependencies_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Table {
         self.toml_value
             .get_mut(CARGO_TOML_DEPENDENCIES)
@@ -92,6 +96,10 @@ impl CargoTomlContents {
             .expect("malformed crate Cargo.toml")
     }
 
+    pub fn has_dev_dependencies(&self) -> bool {
+        self.toml_value.get(CARGO_TOML_DEV_DEPENDENCIES).is_some()
+    }
+
     pub fn dev_dependencies_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Table {
         self.toml_value
             .get_mut(CARGO_TOML_DEV_DEPENDENCIES)
diff --git a/framework/meta/src/lib.rs b/framework/meta/src/lib.rs
index 71790e2b01..8d62eaf391 100644
--- a/framework/meta/src/lib.rs
+++ b/framework/meta/src/lib.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ mod mxsc_file_json;
 mod print_util;
 pub mod template;
 mod tools;
-mod version_history;
+pub mod version_history;
 
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate lazy_static;
diff --git a/framework/meta/src/template/template_adjuster.rs b/framework/meta/src/template/template_adjuster.rs
index 20082163b3..44eb30a7c3 100644
--- a/framework/meta/src/template/template_adjuster.rs
+++ b/framework/meta/src/template/template_adjuster.rs
@@ -218,6 +218,10 @@ pub fn remove_paths_from_deps_map(deps_map: &mut Table, ignore_deps: &[&str]) {
 }
 
 pub fn remove_paths_from_deps(toml: &mut CargoTomlContents, ignore_deps: &[&str]) {
-    remove_paths_from_deps_map(toml.dependencies_mut(), ignore_deps);
-    remove_paths_from_deps_map(toml.dev_dependencies_mut(), ignore_deps);
+    if toml.has_dependencies() {
+        remove_paths_from_deps_map(toml.dependencies_mut(), ignore_deps);
+    }
+    if toml.has_dev_dependencies() {
+        remove_paths_from_deps_map(toml.dev_dependencies_mut(), ignore_deps);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/framework/meta/tests/template_test.rs b/framework/meta/tests/template_test.rs
index 075abf33d3..9dbe02cc88 100644
--- a/framework/meta/tests/template_test.rs
+++ b/framework/meta/tests/template_test.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
-use multiversx_sc_meta::template::{
-    template_names_from_repo, ContractCreator, ContractCreatorTarget, RepoSource,
+use multiversx_sc_meta::{
+    template::{
+        template_names_from_repo, ContractCreator, ContractCreatorTarget, RepoSource, RepoVersion,
+    },
+    version_history,
 };
 use std::{
     fs,
@@ -7,8 +10,8 @@ use std::{
     process::Command,
 };
 
-const TEMPLATE_TEMP_DIR_NAME: &str = "template-test-current";
-const BUILD_CONTRACTS: bool = false;
+const TEMPLATE_TEMP_DIR_NAME: &str = "template-test";
+const BUILD_CONTRACTS: bool = true;
 
 #[test]
 fn test_template_list() {
@@ -45,7 +48,8 @@ fn template_test_current_empty() {
 }
 
 /// Recreates the folder structure in `contracts`, on the same level.
-/// This way, the relative paths are still valid in this case, and we can test the templates with the versions on the current branch.
+/// This way, the relative paths are still valid in this case,
+/// and we can test the templates with the framework version of the current branch.
 fn template_test_current(template_name: &str, sub_path: &str, new_name: &str) {
     let workspace_path = find_workspace();
     let target = ContractCreatorTarget {
@@ -57,14 +61,65 @@ fn template_test_current(template_name: &str, sub_path: &str, new_name: &str) {
 
     prepare_target_dir(&target);
 
-    let downloader = ContractCreator::new(
+    ContractCreator::new(
         &repo_source,
         template_name.to_string(),
         target.clone(),
         true,
-    );
+    )
+    .create_contract();
+
+    if BUILD_CONTRACTS {
+        build_contract(&target);
+    }
+    cargo_test(&target);
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+#[cfg_attr(not(feature = "template-test-released"), ignore)]
+async fn template_test_released_adder() {
+    template_test_released("adder", "released-adder").await;
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+#[cfg_attr(not(feature = "template-test-released"), ignore)]
+async fn template_test_released_crypto_zombies() {
+    template_test_released("crypto-zombies", "released-crypto-zombies").await;
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+#[cfg_attr(not(feature = "template-test-released"), ignore)]
+async fn template_test_released_empty() {
+    template_test_released("empty", "released-empty").await;
+}
+
+/// These tests fully replicate the templating process. They
+/// - download the last released version of the repo,
+/// - create proper contracts,
+/// - build the newly created contracts (to wasm)
+/// - run all tests (including Go scenarios) on them.
+async fn template_test_released(template_name: &str, new_name: &str) {
+    let workspace_path = find_workspace();
+    let target = ContractCreatorTarget {
+        target_path: workspace_path.join(TEMPLATE_TEMP_DIR_NAME),
+        new_name: new_name.to_string(),
+    };
 
-    downloader.create_contract();
+    let repo_source = RepoSource::download_from_github(
+        RepoVersion::Tag(version_history::LAST_TEMPLATE_VERSION.to_string()),
+        std::env::temp_dir(),
+    )
+    .await;
+
+    prepare_target_dir(&target);
+
+    ContractCreator::new(
+        &repo_source,
+        template_name.to_string(),
+        target.clone(),
+        false,
+    )
+    .create_contract();
 
     if BUILD_CONTRACTS {
         build_contract(&target);