diff --git a/lib/utils/template_generator.js b/lib/utils/template_generator.js
index 32262fe2..eaa41681 100644
--- a/lib/utils/template_generator.js
+++ b/lib/utils/template_generator.js
@@ -6,7 +6,16 @@ class TemplateGenerator {
     this.templateName = templateName;
   }
 
+  checkPathExists(fspath) {
+    if (fs.existsSync(fspath)) {
+      console.error(`${fspath} already exists, will not overwrite`.red);
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+  }
+
   downloadAndGenerate(uri, destinationFolder, name) {
+    const fspath = utils.joinPath(destinationFolder, name);
+    this.checkPathExists(fspath);
     const self = this;
     let {url, filePath} = this.getExternalProject(uri);
     let tmpFilePath = fs.tmpDir(filePath);
@@ -14,8 +23,6 @@ class TemplateGenerator {
 
     fs.mkdirpSync(utils.dirname(tmpFilePath));
     utils.downloadFile(url, tmpFilePath, () => {
-      let fspath = utils.joinPath(destinationFolder, name);
-
       utils.extractZip(tmpFilePath, fspath, {
         map: file => {
           let fixed_path = file.path.split('/');
@@ -30,10 +37,11 @@ class TemplateGenerator {
   }
 
   generate(destinationFolder, name) {
+    const fspath = utils.joinPath(destinationFolder, name);
+    this.checkPathExists(fspath);
     console.log(__('Initializing Embark Template...').green);
 
     let templatePath = fs.embarkPath(utils.joinPath('templates', this.templateName));
-    let fspath = utils.joinPath(destinationFolder, name);
     fs.copySync(templatePath, fspath);
 
     this.installTemplate(fspath, name, (name === 'embark_demo'));