diff --git a/packages/create-nx-plugin/bin/create-nx-plugin.ts b/packages/create-nx-plugin/bin/create-nx-plugin.ts
index db683778d6..6296ee4f2c 100644
--- a/packages/create-nx-plugin/bin/create-nx-plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/create-nx-plugin/bin/create-nx-plugin.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 
 // we can't import from '@nrwl/workspace' because it will require typescript
-import { getPackageManagerCommand } from '@nrwl/tao/src/shared/package-manager';
+import {
+  getPackageManagerCommand,
+  PackageManager,
+} from '@nrwl/tao/src/shared/package-manager';
 import { output } from '@nrwl/workspace/src/utilities/output';
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
 import { readFileSync, removeSync, writeFileSync } from 'fs-extra';
@@ -52,7 +55,7 @@ function createSandbox(packageManager: string) {
 
 function createWorkspace(
   tmpDir: string,
-  packageManager: string,
+  packageManager: PackageManager,
   parsedArgs: any,
   name: string
 ) {
@@ -197,7 +200,7 @@ if (parsedArgs.help) {
   process.exit(0);
 }
 
-const packageManager = parsedArgs.packageManager || 'npm';
+const packageManager: PackageManager = parsedArgs.packageManager || 'npm';
 determineWorkspaceName(parsedArgs).then((workspaceName) => {
   return determinePluginName(parsedArgs).then((pluginName) => {
     const tmpDir = createSandbox(packageManager);
diff --git a/packages/create-nx-workspace/bin/create-nx-workspace.ts b/packages/create-nx-workspace/bin/create-nx-workspace.ts
index 1938039293..2ab4f0a1e6 100644
--- a/packages/create-nx-workspace/bin/create-nx-workspace.ts
+++ b/packages/create-nx-workspace/bin/create-nx-workspace.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import * as ora from 'ora';
 import {
   getPackageManagerCommand,
   getPackageManagerVersion,
+  PackageManager,
 } from './package-manager';
 
 export enum Preset {
@@ -120,7 +121,7 @@ if (parsedArgs.help) {
 }
 
 (async function main() {
-  const packageManager = parsedArgs.packageManager || 'npm';
+  const packageManager: PackageManager = parsedArgs.packageManager || 'npm';
   const {
     name,
     cli,
@@ -500,7 +501,7 @@ function createSandbox(packageManager: string) {
 async function createApp(
   tmpDir: string,
   name: string,
-  packageManager: string,
+  packageManager: PackageManager,
   parsedArgs: any
 ) {
   const { _, cli, ...restArgs } = parsedArgs;
diff --git a/packages/create-nx-workspace/bin/package-manager.ts b/packages/create-nx-workspace/bin/package-manager.ts
index c39c525982..fd51f52d99 100644
--- a/packages/create-nx-workspace/bin/package-manager.ts
+++ b/packages/create-nx-workspace/bin/package-manager.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ import { join } from 'path';
  * we duplicate the helper functions from @nrwl/workspace in this file.
  */
 
-export function detectPackageManager(dir = '') {
+export type PackageManager = 'yarn' | 'pnpm' | 'npm';
+
+export function detectPackageManager(dir: string = ''): PackageManager {
   return existsSync(join(dir, 'yarn.lock'))
     ? 'yarn'
     : existsSync(join(dir, 'pnpm-lock.yaml'))
@@ -28,7 +30,7 @@ export function detectPackageManager(dir = '') {
  *
  */
 export function getPackageManagerCommand(
-  packageManager = detectPackageManager()
+  packageManager: PackageManager = detectPackageManager()
 ): {
   install: string;
   add: string;
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ export function getPackageManagerCommand(
 }
 
 export function getPackageManagerVersion(
-  packageManager: 'npm' | 'yarn' | 'pnpm'
+  packageManager: PackageManager
 ): string {
   return execSync(`${packageManager} --version`).toString('utf-8').trim();
 }
diff --git a/packages/devkit/index.ts b/packages/devkit/index.ts
index 803a761d7a..87bb665e35 100644
--- a/packages/devkit/index.ts
+++ b/packages/devkit/index.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ export {
   NxAffectedConfig,
 } from '@nrwl/tao/src/shared/nx';
 export { logger } from '@nrwl/tao/src/shared/logger';
-export { getPackageManagerCommand } from '@nrwl/tao/src/shared/package-manager';
+export {
+  getPackageManagerCommand,
+  PackageManager,
+} from '@nrwl/tao/src/shared/package-manager';
 export { runExecutor, Target } from '@nrwl/tao/src/commands/run';
 
 export { formatFiles } from './src/generators/format-files';
diff --git a/packages/devkit/src/tasks/install-packages-task.ts b/packages/devkit/src/tasks/install-packages-task.ts
index f779b07b0a..000e85c5c1 100644
--- a/packages/devkit/src/tasks/install-packages-task.ts
+++ b/packages/devkit/src/tasks/install-packages-task.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { join } from 'path';
 import {
   detectPackageManager,
   getPackageManagerCommand,
+  PackageManager,
 } from '@nrwl/tao/src/shared/package-manager';
 
 import { joinPathFragments } from '../utils/path';
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ export function installPackagesTask(
   host: Tree,
   alwaysRun: boolean = false,
   cwd: string = '',
-  packageManager?: string
+  packageManager?: PackageManager
 ) {
   const packageJsonValue = host
     .read(joinPathFragments(cwd, 'package.json'))
diff --git a/packages/tao/src/commands/migrate.ts b/packages/tao/src/commands/migrate.ts
index 9ea00deccb..1cd0c39927 100644
--- a/packages/tao/src/commands/migrate.ts
+++ b/packages/tao/src/commands/migrate.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { convertToCamelCase, handleErrors } from '../shared/params';
 import {
   detectPackageManager,
   getPackageManagerCommand,
+  PackageManager,
 } from '../shared/package-manager';
 import { FsTree } from '../shared/tree';
 import { flushChanges } from './generate';
@@ -421,7 +422,7 @@ function versions(root: string, from: { [p: string]: string }) {
 }
 
 // testing-fetch-start
-function createFetcher(packageManager: string) {
+function createFetcher(packageManager: PackageManager) {
   const cache = {};
   return async function f(
     packageName: string,
diff --git a/packages/tao/src/shared/package-manager.ts b/packages/tao/src/shared/package-manager.ts
index 08924a6f80..4cb4e9aec3 100644
--- a/packages/tao/src/shared/package-manager.ts
+++ b/packages/tao/src/shared/package-manager.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ import { execSync } from 'child_process';
 import { existsSync } from 'fs';
 import { join } from 'path';
 
-export function detectPackageManager(dir = '') {
+export type PackageManager = 'yarn' | 'pnpm' | 'npm';
+
+export function detectPackageManager(dir: string = ''): PackageManager {
   return existsSync(join(dir, 'yarn.lock'))
     ? 'yarn'
     : existsSync(join(dir, 'pnpm-lock.yaml'))
@@ -23,7 +25,7 @@ export function detectPackageManager(dir = '') {
  *
  */
 export function getPackageManagerCommand(
-  packageManager = detectPackageManager()
+  packageManager: PackageManager = detectPackageManager()
 ): {
   install: string;
   add: string;
@@ -70,7 +72,7 @@ export function getPackageManagerCommand(
 }
 
 export function getPackageManagerVersion(
-  packageManager: 'npm' | 'yarn' | 'pnpm'
+  packageManager: PackageManager
 ): string {
   return execSync(`${packageManager} --version`).toString('utf-8').trim();
 }
diff --git a/packages/tao/src/shared/workspace.ts b/packages/tao/src/shared/workspace.ts
index abe303f632..b6bf4adf0b 100644
--- a/packages/tao/src/shared/workspace.ts
+++ b/packages/tao/src/shared/workspace.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import * as fs from 'fs';
 import * as path from 'path';
 import * as stripJsonComments from 'strip-json-comments';
 import { NxJsonConfiguration, NxJsonProjectConfiguration } from './nx';
+import { PackageManager } from './package-manager';
 
 export interface Workspace
   extends WorkspaceJsonConfiguration,
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ export interface WorkspaceJsonConfiguration {
    * Default generator collection. It is used when no collection is provided.
    */
   cli?: {
-    packageManager?: 'npm' | 'yarn' | 'pnpm';
+    packageManager?: PackageManager;
     defaultCollection?: string;
   };
 }
diff --git a/packages/workspace/src/generators/new/new.spec.ts b/packages/workspace/src/generators/new/new.spec.ts
index cef97f8173..0662622f67 100644
--- a/packages/workspace/src/generators/new/new.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/workspace/src/generators/new/new.spec.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { createTree } from '@nrwl/devkit/testing';
-import { readJson, Tree, writeJson } from '@nrwl/devkit';
+import { readJson, Tree, writeJson, PackageManager } from '@nrwl/devkit';
 import { newGenerator, Preset, Schema } from './new';
 import { Linter } from '../../utils/lint';
 
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ describe('new', () => {
   describe('--packageManager', () => {
     describe.each([['npm'], ['yarn'], ['pnpm']])(
       '%s',
-      (packageManager: 'npm' | 'yarn' | 'pnpm') => {
+      (packageManager: PackageManager) => {
         it('should set the packageManager in workspace.json', async () => {
           await newGenerator(tree, {
             ...defaultOptions,
diff --git a/packages/workspace/src/generators/new/new.ts b/packages/workspace/src/generators/new/new.ts
index e36b4ae816..2d909226b1 100644
--- a/packages/workspace/src/generators/new/new.ts
+++ b/packages/workspace/src/generators/new/new.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
   names,
   getPackageManagerCommand,
   WorkspaceJsonConfiguration,
+  PackageManager,
 } from '@nrwl/devkit';
 
 import { join } from 'path';
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ export interface Schema {
   commit?: { name: string; email: string; message?: string };
   defaultBase: string;
   linter: 'tslint' | 'eslint';
-  packageManager?: 'npm' | 'yarn' | 'pnpm';
+  packageManager?: PackageManager;
 }
 
 function generatePreset(host: Tree, opts: Schema) {