diff --git a/registry/registry_test.go b/registry/registry_test.go
index 8adc7ca075829844fd7923247675985c85ee096b..628e29dc09b5359e0650526c7661837a9a477384 100644
--- a/registry/registry_test.go
+++ b/registry/registry_test.go
@@ -98,7 +98,8 @@ 	pkgPath := filepath.Join(tmplDir, "template", "{{upper package}}")
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(pkgPath, os.ModePerm); err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
-	fi, err = os.Create(filepath.Join(pkgPath, ".keep"))
+	// .tmplkeep file
+	fi, err = os.Create(filepath.Join(pkgPath, ".tmplkeep"))
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}

diff --git a/registry/template.go b/registry/template.go
index 938eff00500886ee1f3a222fd07cb432318d40b6..76bf84c425959dc4e15facc9726d9a22ba620ca5 100644
--- a/registry/template.go
+++ b/registry/template.go
@@ -85,6 +85,11 @@ 		if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(newDest), os.ModePerm); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
+		// Skip .tmplkeep files, after creating the directory structure
+		if strings.EqualFold(walkInfo.Name(), ".tmplkeep") {
+			return nil
+		}
+
 		oldFi, err := os.Lstat(walkPath)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err

diff --git a/registry/template_test.go b/registry/template_test.go
index dd8c317c860422481d6a0c7b3ff6e995b12fc3ce..a51717be1396de93d93f661ffb6b77aafad1bf12 100644
--- a/registry/template_test.go
+++ b/registry/template_test.go
@@ -72,6 +72,13 @@ 		t.Logf("expected a directory at %s: %v\n", pkgPath, err)
 		t.FailNow()
 	}
 
+	// Check for .tmplkeep
+	tmplKeep := filepath.Join(pkgPath, ".tmplkeep")
+	if _, err := os.Lstat(tmplKeep); err == nil {
+		t.Logf(".tmplkeep files should NOT be retained upon execution: %s\n", tmplKeep)
+		t.FailNow()
+	}
+
 	// Change file to test non-overwrite
 	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(testPath, []byte(tmplNewGold), os.ModePerm); err != nil {
 		t.Logf("could not write file: %v\n", err)