diff --git a/internal/writers/writers.go b/internal/writers/writers.go
index 70ab6220..b40f4e73 100644
--- a/internal/writers/writers.go
+++ b/internal/writers/writers.go
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 package writers
 
 import (
+	"bufio"
 	"bytes"
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 )
 
@@ -85,4 +87,85 @@ func (n *NopCloser) Close() error {
 var (
 	_ io.WriteCloser = (*NopCloser)(nil)
 	_ io.WriteCloser = (*emptySkipper)(nil)
+	_ io.WriteCloser = (*sameSkipper)(nil)
 )
+
+type sameSkipper struct {
+	open func() (io.WriteCloser, error)
+
+	// internal
+	r    *bufio.Reader
+	w    io.WriteCloser
+	buf  *bytes.Buffer
+	diff bool
+}
+
+// SameSkipper creates an io.WriteCloser that will only start writing once a
+// difference with the current output has been encountered. The wrapped
+// io.WriteCloser must be provided by 'open'.
+func SameSkipper(r io.Reader, open func() (io.WriteCloser, error)) io.WriteCloser {
+	br := bufio.NewReader(r)
+	return &sameSkipper{
+		r:    br,
+		w:    nil,
+		buf:  &bytes.Buffer{},
+		diff: false,
+		open: open,
+	}
+}
+
+// Write - writes to the buffer, until a difference with the output is found,
+// then flushes and writes to the wrapped writer.
+func (f *sameSkipper) Write(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
+	if !f.diff {
+		in := make([]byte, len(p))
+		_, err := f.r.Read(in)
+		if err != nil && err != io.EOF {
+			return 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to read: %w", err)
+		}
+		if bytes.Equal(in, p) {
+			return f.buf.Write(p)
+		}
+
+		f.diff = true
+		err = f.flush()
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, err
+		}
+	}
+	return f.w.Write(p)
+}
+
+func (f *sameSkipper) flush() (err error) {
+	if f.w == nil {
+		f.w, err = f.open()
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if f.w == nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("nil writer returned by open")
+		}
+	}
+	// empty the buffer into the wrapped writer
+	_, err = f.buf.WriteTo(f.w)
+	return err
+}
+
+// Close - implements io.Closer
+func (f *sameSkipper) Close() error {
+	// Check to see if we missed anything in the reader
+	if !f.diff {
+		n, err := f.r.Peek(1)
+		if len(n) > 0 || err != io.EOF {
+			err = f.flush()
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("failed to flush on close: %w", err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if f.w != nil {
+		return f.w.Close()
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/writers/writers_test.go b/internal/writers/writers_test.go
index df9ccd8f..b3452fcd 100644
--- a/internal/writers/writers_test.go
+++ b/internal/writers/writers_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package writers
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -47,6 +48,8 @@ func TestEmptySkipper(t *testing.T) {
 		n, err := f.Write(d.in)
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.Equal(t, len(d.in), n)
+		err = f.Close()
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		if d.empty {
 			assert.Nil(t, f.w)
 			assert.False(t, opened)
@@ -65,3 +68,46 @@ type bufferCloser struct {
 func (b *bufferCloser) Close() error {
 	return nil
 }
+
+func TestSameSkipper(t *testing.T) {
+	testdata := []struct {
+		in   []byte
+		out  []byte
+		same bool
+	}{
+		{[]byte(" "), []byte(" "), true},
+		{[]byte("foo"), []byte("foo"), true},
+		{[]byte("foo"), nil, false},
+		{[]byte("foo"), []byte("bar"), false},
+		{[]byte("foobar"), []byte("foo"), false},
+		{[]byte("foo"), []byte("foobar"), false},
+	}
+
+	for _, d := range testdata {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("in:%q/out:%q/same:%v", d.in, d.out, d.same), func(t *testing.T) {
+			r := bytes.NewBuffer(d.out)
+			w := &bufferCloser{&bytes.Buffer{}}
+			opened := false
+			f, ok := SameSkipper(r, func() (io.WriteCloser, error) {
+				opened = true
+				return w, nil
+			}).(*sameSkipper)
+			assert.True(t, ok)
+
+			n, err := f.Write(d.in)
+			assert.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.Equal(t, len(d.in), n)
+			err = f.Close()
+			assert.NoError(t, err)
+			if d.same {
+				assert.Nil(t, f.w)
+				assert.False(t, opened)
+				assert.Empty(t, w.Bytes())
+			} else {
+				assert.NotNil(t, f.w)
+				assert.True(t, opened)
+				assert.EqualValues(t, d.in, w.Bytes())
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/template.go b/template.go
index 3559b5ca..b500ce73 100644
--- a/template.go
+++ b/template.go
@@ -249,10 +249,26 @@ func createOutFile(filename string, mode os.FileMode, modeOverride bool) (out io
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to chmod output file '%s' with mode %q: %w", filename, mode.Perm(), err)
 		}
 	}
-	out, err = fs.OpenFile(filename, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC, mode.Perm())
-	if err != nil {
+
+	open := func() (out io.WriteCloser, err error) {
+		out, err = fs.OpenFile(filename, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC, mode.Perm())
+		if err != nil {
+			return out, fmt.Errorf("failed to open output file '%s' for writing: %w", filename, err)
+		}
+
 		return out, err
 	}
+
+	// if the output file already exists, we'll use a SameSkipper
+	f, err := fs.OpenFile(filename, os.O_RDONLY, mode.Perm())
+	if err != nil {
+		// likely means the file just doesn't exist - open's error will be more useful
+		return open()
+	}
+	out = writers.SameSkipper(f, func() (io.WriteCloser, error) {
+		return open()
+	})
+
 	return out, err
 }