diff --git a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/DefaultGenerator.java b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/DefaultGenerator.java
index 1e0ae01c127..9f601930c04 100644
--- a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/DefaultGenerator.java
+++ b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/DefaultGenerator.java
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ public class DefaultGenerator extends AbstractGenerator implements Generator {
                 for (String templateName : config.apiTemplateFiles().keySet()) {
 
                     String filename = config.apiFilename(templateName, tag);
-                    if (!config.shouldOverwrite(filename)) {
+                    if (!config.shouldOverwrite(filename) && new File(filename).exists()) {
                         continue;
                     }