diff --git a/commands/build.go b/commands/build.go
index 16f142ae..7d22b8e8 100644
--- a/commands/build.go
+++ b/commands/build.go
@@ -198,7 +198,12 @@ func runBuild(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	}
 
 	if len(services.StackConfiguration.TemplateConfigs) != 0 && !disableStackPull {
-		err := pullStackTemplates(services.StackConfiguration.TemplateConfigs, cmd)
+		newTemplateInfos, err := filterExistingTemplates(services.StackConfiguration.TemplateConfigs, "./template")
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Already pulled templates directory has issue: %s", err.Error())
+		}
+
+		err = pullStackTemplates(newTemplateInfos, cmd)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("could not pull templates from function yaml file: %s", err.Error())
 		}
diff --git a/commands/publish.go b/commands/publish.go
index 9297d5df..78a5e1ef 100644
--- a/commands/publish.go
+++ b/commands/publish.go
@@ -148,7 +148,12 @@ func runPublish(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	fmt.Printf("Created buildx node: %s\n", res.Stdout)
 
 	if len(services.StackConfiguration.TemplateConfigs) != 0 && !disableStackPull {
-		err := pullStackTemplates(services.StackConfiguration.TemplateConfigs, cmd)
+		newTemplateInfos, err := filterExistingTemplates(services.StackConfiguration.TemplateConfigs, "./template")
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Already pulled templates directory has issue: %s", err.Error())
+		}
+
+		err = pullStackTemplates(newTemplateInfos, cmd)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("could not pull templates from function yaml file: %s", err.Error())
 		}
diff --git a/commands/template_pull_stack.go b/commands/template_pull_stack.go
index 4fbea788..a0a39498 100644
--- a/commands/template_pull_stack.go
+++ b/commands/template_pull_stack.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package commands
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
 
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
 
@@ -94,3 +95,16 @@ func findTemplate(templateInfo []stack.TemplateSource, customName string) (speci
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+// filter templates which are already available on filesystem
+func filterExistingTemplates(templateInfo []stack.TemplateSource, templatesDir string) ([]stack.TemplateSource, error) {
+	var newTemplates []stack.TemplateSource
+	for _, info := range templateInfo {
+		templatePath := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", templatesDir, info.Name)
+		if _, err := os.Stat(templatePath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			newTemplates = append(newTemplates, info)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return newTemplates, nil
+}
diff --git a/commands/template_pull_stack_test.go b/commands/template_pull_stack_test.go
index ce30c0c7..ee650963 100644
--- a/commands/template_pull_stack_test.go
+++ b/commands/template_pull_stack_test.go
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 package commands
 
 import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/openfaas/faas-cli/builder"
 	"github.com/openfaas/faas-cli/stack"
 )
 
@@ -105,3 +108,31 @@ func Test_pullAllTemplates(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func Test_filterExistingTemplates(t *testing.T) {
+	templatesDir := "./template"
+	defer os.RemoveAll(templatesDir)
+
+	templates := []stack.TemplateSource{
+		{Name: "dockerfile", Source: "https://github.com/openfaas-incubator/powershell-http-template"},
+		{Name: "ruby", Source: "https://github.com/openfaas-incubator/openfaas-rust-template"},
+		{Name: "perl", Source: "https://github.com/openfaas-incubator/perl-template"},
+	}
+
+	// Copy the submodule to temp directory to avoid altering it during tests
+	testRepoGit := filepath.Join("testdata", "templates", "template")
+	builder.CopyFiles(testRepoGit, templatesDir)
+
+	newTemplateInfos, err := filterExistingTemplates(templates, templatesDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected error: %s", err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if len(newTemplateInfos) != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("Wanted new templates: `%d` got `%d`", 1, len(newTemplateInfos))
+	}
+
+	if newTemplateInfos[0].Name != "perl" {
+		t.Errorf("Wanted template: `%s` got `%s`", "perl", newTemplateInfos[0].Name)
+	}
+}