A video decoder may be configured to determine a motion vector and a motion vector precision for a current block; identify a current block template within the current picture; search within a search area for a final reference block template that corresponds to the current block template, wherein to search within the search area, the one or more processors are further configured to: identify an initial reference block template based on the motion vector, search other reference block templates around the initial reference block template using a step size that is set to an initial step size, and iteratively reduce the step size from the initial step size until the step size is set to a final step size that equals the motion vector precision; determine a prediction block for the current block based on the final reference block template.