diff --git a/registry/registry_test.go b/registry/registry_test.go
index 8adc7ca..628e29d 100644
--- a/registry/registry_test.go
+++ b/registry/registry_test.go
@@ -98,7 +98,8 @@ func setupTemplate() {
 	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 938eff0..76bf84c 100644
--- a/registry/template.go
+++ b/registry/template.go
@@ -85,6 +85,11 @@ func (t *Template) Execute(dest string, defaults, overwrite bool) error {
 			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 dd8c317..a51717b 100644
--- a/registry/template_test.go
+++ b/registry/template_test.go
@@ -72,6 +72,13 @@ func testExecute(t *testing.T) {
 		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)