diff --git a/link.go b/link.go
index 35f4979..c583ed3 100644
--- a/link.go
+++ b/link.go
@@ -30,47 +30,6 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 )
 
-func cleanPath(loc string, flags int) error {
-	if info, _ := os.Lstat(loc); info != nil {
-		if info.Mode()&os.ModeSymlink == 0 {
-			if flags&flagClobber != 0 || prompt("clobber path", loc) {
-				if flags&flagVerbose != 0 {
-					log.Printf("clobbering path: %s", loc)
-				}
-				if err := os.RemoveAll(loc); err != nil {
-					return err
-				}
-			}
-		} else {
-			if flags&flagVerbose != 0 {
-				log.Printf("removing symlink: %s", loc)
-			}
-			if err := os.Remove(loc); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	return nil
-}
-
-func createPath(loc string, flags int, mode os.FileMode) error {
-	parentDir := path.Dir(loc)
-
-	if _, err := os.Stat(parentDir); os.IsNotExist(err) {
-		if flags&flagForce != 0 || prompt("force create path", parentDir) {
-			if flags&flagVerbose != 0 {
-				log.Printf("force creating path: %s", parentDir)
-			}
-			if err := os.MkdirAll(parentDir, mode); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	return nil
-}
-
 func parseLink(params []string) (srcPath, dstPath string, mode os.FileMode, err error) {
 	length := len(params)
 	if length < 1 || length > 3 {
@@ -124,9 +83,13 @@ func processLink(params []string, conf *config) error {
 			return err
 		}
 
-		if err := try(func() error { return cleanPath(dstPathAbs, conf.flags) }); err != nil {
+		pathCleaned, err := cleanPath(dstPathAbs, conf.flags)
+		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		if !pathCleaned {
+			return nil
+		}
 
 		if conf.flags&flagVerbose != 0 {
 			log.Printf("linking %s to %s", srcPathAbs, dstPathAbs)
@@ -141,6 +104,7 @@ func processLink(params []string, conf *config) error {
 			return nil
 		}
 
-		return try(func() error { return cleanPath(dstPathAbs, conf.flags) })
+		_, err = cleanPath(dstPathAbs, conf.flags)
+		return err
 	}
 }
diff --git a/template.go b/template.go
index 002386f..a0d0b84 100644
--- a/template.go
+++ b/template.go
@@ -96,9 +96,13 @@ func processTemplate(params []string, conf *config) (err error) {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if err = try(func() error { return cleanPath(dstPathAbs, conf.flags) }); err != nil {
+	pathCleaned, err := cleanPath(dstPathAbs, conf.flags)
+	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if !pathCleaned {
+		return nil
+	}
 
 	if conf.flags&flagVerbose != 0 {
 		log.Printf("process template %s to %s", srcPathAbs, dstPathAbs)
diff --git a/util.go b/util.go
index 58a4374..3d16e6f 100644
--- a/util.go
+++ b/util.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
+	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 )
@@ -47,6 +48,52 @@ func makeAbsPath(path string) string {
 	return path
 }
 
+func cleanPath(loc string, flags int) (bool, error) {
+	if info, _ := os.Lstat(loc); info != nil {
+		if info.Mode()&os.ModeSymlink == 0 {
+			shouldContinue := false
+			if flags&flagClobber == 0 {
+				shouldContinue = prompt("clobber path", loc)
+			}
+			if flags&flagClobber != 0 || shouldContinue {
+				if flags&flagVerbose != 0 {
+					log.Printf("clobbering path: %s", loc)
+				}
+				if err := try(func() error { return os.RemoveAll(loc) }) ; err != nil {
+					return false, err
+				}
+			} else {
+				return false, nil
+			}
+		} else {
+			if flags&flagVerbose != 0 {
+				log.Printf("removing symlink: %s", loc)
+			}
+			if err := try(func() error { return os.Remove(loc) }); err != nil {
+				return false, err
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return true, nil
+}
+
+func createPath(loc string, flags int, mode os.FileMode) error {
+	parentDir := path.Dir(loc)
+
+	if _, err := os.Stat(parentDir); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		if flags&flagForce != 0 || prompt("force create path", parentDir) {
+			if flags&flagVerbose != 0 {
+				log.Printf("force creating path: %s", parentDir)
+			}
+			if err := os.MkdirAll(parentDir, mode); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 func makeVariantNames(name, variant string) []string {
 	if nameParts := strings.Split(name, "__"); len(nameParts) > 1 {
 		variant = nameParts[len(nameParts)-1]