diff --git a/RELEASE_NOTES.md b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
index 9a0f43c1e..f6f2990b4 100644
--- a/RELEASE_NOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
@@ -4,3 +4,6 @@
 Build cookbooks generated via `chef generate build-cookbook` will no longer
 depend on the delivery_build or delivery-base cookbook. Instead, the Test
 Kitchen instance will use ChefDK as per the standard Workflow Runner setup.
+
+Also the build cookbook generator will not overwrite your `config.json` or
+`project.toml` if they exist already on your project.
diff --git a/lib/chef-dk/skeletons/code_generator/recipes/build_cookbook.rb b/lib/chef-dk/skeletons/code_generator/recipes/build_cookbook.rb
index 7ff66cb40..414eb1986 100644
--- a/lib/chef-dk/skeletons/code_generator/recipes/build_cookbook.rb
+++ b/lib/chef-dk/skeletons/code_generator/recipes/build_cookbook.rb
@@ -3,18 +3,22 @@
 delivery_project_dir = context.delivery_project_dir
 pipeline = context.pipeline
 dot_delivery_dir = File.join(delivery_project_dir, '.delivery')
+config_json = File.join(dot_delivery_dir, 'config.json')
+project_toml = File.join(dot_delivery_dir, 'project.toml')
 
 generator_desc('Ensuring delivery configuration')
 
 directory dot_delivery_dir
 
-cookbook_file File.join(dot_delivery_dir, 'config.json') do
+cookbook_file config_json do
   source 'delivery-config.json'
+  not_if { File.exist?(config_json) }
 end
 
 # Adding a new prototype file for delivery-cli local commands
-cookbook_file File.join(dot_delivery_dir, 'project.toml') do
+cookbook_file project_toml do
   source 'delivery-project.toml'
+  not_if { File.exist?(project_toml) }
 end
 
 generator_desc('Ensuring correct delivery build cookbook content')
@@ -124,7 +128,7 @@
     command('git add .delivery/config.json')
     cwd delivery_project_dir
 
-    only_if 'git status --porcelain |grep "."'
+    only_if 'git status -u --porcelain |grep ".delivery/config.json"'
   end
 
   # Adding the new prototype file to the feature branch
@@ -133,14 +137,14 @@
     command('git add .delivery/project.toml')
     cwd delivery_project_dir
 
-    only_if 'git status --porcelain |grep "."'
+    only_if 'git status -u --porcelain |grep ".delivery/project.toml"'
   end
 
   execute('git-commit-delivery-config') do
     command('git commit -m "Add generated delivery configuration"')
     cwd delivery_project_dir
 
-    only_if 'git status --porcelain |grep "."'
+    only_if 'git status -u --porcelain | egrep "config.json|project.toml"'
   end
 
   generator_desc('Adding build cookbook to feature branch')
@@ -149,14 +153,14 @@
     command('git add .delivery')
     cwd delivery_project_dir
 
-    only_if 'git status --porcelain |grep "."'
+    only_if 'git status -u --porcelain |grep ".delivery"'
   end
 
   execute('git-commit-delivery-build-cookbook') do
     command('git commit -m "Add generated delivery build cookbook"')
     cwd delivery_project_dir
 
-    only_if 'git status --porcelain |grep "."'
+    only_if 'git status -u --porcelain |grep ".delivery"'
   end
 
   execute("git-return-to-#{pipeline}-branch") do
diff --git a/spec/unit/command/generator_commands/build_cookbook_spec.rb b/spec/unit/command/generator_commands/build_cookbook_spec.rb
index 6bb2de89d..f9fc6ba0f 100644
--- a/spec/unit/command/generator_commands/build_cookbook_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/command/generator_commands/build_cookbook_spec.rb
@@ -322,6 +322,40 @@ def git!(cmd)
       end
 
     end
+
+    context "when the delivery project has already a config.json and project.toml" do
+
+      let(:dot_delivery) { File.join(project_dir, ".delivery") }
+      let(:config_json) { File.join(dot_delivery, "config.json") }
+      let(:project_toml) { File.join(dot_delivery, "project.toml") }
+
+      def git!(cmd)
+        Mixlib::ShellOut.new("git #{cmd}", cwd: project_dir).tap do |c|
+          c.run_command
+          c.error!
+        end
+      end
+
+      before do
+        FileUtils.mkdir_p(dot_delivery)
+        FileUtils.touch(config_json)
+        FileUtils.touch(project_toml)
+
+        git!("init .")
+        git!("add .")
+        git!("commit -m \"initial commit\"")
+
+        Dir.chdir(tempdir) do
+          allow(cookbook_generator.chef_runner).to receive(:stdout).and_return(stdout_io)
+          expect(cookbook_generator.run).to eq(0)
+        end
+      end
+
+      it "does not overwrite the delivery config" do
+        expect(git!("log").stdout).to_not include("Add generated delivery configuration")
+      end
+
+    end
   end
 
   context "when given a path including the .delivery directory" do