diff --git a/common/configtx/test/helper.go b/common/configtx/test/helper.go
index 598487f8f3c..36e2b4af4c8 100644
--- a/common/configtx/test/helper.go
+++ b/common/configtx/test/helper.go
@@ -22,12 +22,10 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric/common/configtx"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric/common/genesis"
-	peersharedconfig "github.com/hyperledger/fabric/peer/sharedconfig"
 	cb "github.com/hyperledger/fabric/protos/common"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric/protos/utils"
 
 	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto"
-	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric/protos/peer"
 	logging "github.com/op/go-logging"
 )
 
@@ -41,10 +39,12 @@ const (
 const (
 	OrdererTemplateName = "orderer.template"
 	MSPTemplateName     = "msp.template"
+	PeerTemplateName    = "peer.template"
 )
 
 var ordererTemplate configtx.Template
 var mspTemplate configtx.Template
+var peerTemplate configtx.Template
 
 var genesisFactory genesis.Factory
 
@@ -71,9 +71,8 @@ func readTemplate(name string) configtx.Template {
 func init() {
 	ordererTemplate = readTemplate(OrdererTemplateName)
 	mspTemplate = readTemplate(MSPTemplateName)
-	anchorPeers := []*peer.AnchorPeer{{Host: "fakehost", Port: 2000, Cert: []byte{}}}
-	gossTemplate := configtx.NewSimpleTemplate(peersharedconfig.TemplateAnchorPeers(anchorPeers))
-	genesisFactory = genesis.NewFactoryImpl(configtx.NewCompositeTemplate(mspTemplate, ordererTemplate, gossTemplate))
+	peerTemplate = readTemplate(PeerTemplateName)
+	genesisFactory = genesis.NewFactoryImpl(configtx.NewCompositeTemplate(mspTemplate, ordererTemplate, peerTemplate))
 }
 
 // WriteTemplate takes an output file and set of config items and writes them to that file as a marshaled ConfigurationTemplate
@@ -100,3 +99,8 @@ func GetOrdererTemplate() configtx.Template {
 func GetMSPTemplate() configtx.Template {
 	return mspTemplate
 }
+
+// GetMSPerTemplate returns the test peer template
+func GetPeerTemplate() configtx.Template {
+	return peerTemplate
+}
diff --git a/common/configtx/test/peer.template b/common/configtx/test/peer.template
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e4ec4eafd9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/configtx/test/peer.template
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+
+"AnchorPeers
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/peer/sharedconfig/template_test.go b/peer/sharedconfig/template_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..92c15cf3a81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/peer/sharedconfig/template_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/*
+Copyright IBM Corp. 2017 All Rights Reserved.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+		 http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package sharedconfig
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	configtxtest "github.com/hyperledger/fabric/common/configtx/test"
+)
+
+func TestTemplate(t *testing.T) {
+	configtxtest.WriteTemplate(
+		"../../common/configtx/test/"+configtxtest.PeerTemplateName,
+		DefaultAnchorPeers(),
+	)
+}