diff --git a/R/HDF5AnnData.R b/R/HDF5AnnData.R
index 9d0e2127..2efcac64 100644
--- a/R/HDF5AnnData.R
+++ b/R/HDF5AnnData.R
@@ -395,9 +395,8 @@ HDF5AnnData <- R6::R6Class("HDF5AnnData", # nolint
 #'   obs_names = LETTERS[1:3],
 #'   var_names = letters[1:5]
 #' )
-#' to_HDF5AnnData(ad, "test.h5ad")
-#' # remove file
-#' file.remove("test.h5ad")
+#' h5ad_file <- tempfile(fileext = ".h5ad")
+#' to_HDF5AnnData(ad, h5ad_file)
 to_HDF5AnnData <- function(adata, file, compression = c("none", "gzip", "lzf")) { # nolint
   stopifnot(
     inherits(adata, "AbstractAnnData")
diff --git a/R/write_h5ad.R b/R/write_h5ad.R
index 438ea4ef..02ad911d 100644
--- a/R/write_h5ad.R
+++ b/R/write_h5ad.R
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #' @param compression The compression algorithm to use when writing the
 #'  HDF5 file. Can be one of `"none"`, `"gzip"` or `"lzf"`. Defaults to
 #' `"none"`.
+#' @param overwrite Whether or not to overwrite `path` if it already exists
 #'
 #' @return `path` invisibly
 #' @export
@@ -67,7 +68,13 @@
 #'   # h5ad_file <- tempfile(fileext = ".h5ad")
 #'   # write_h5ad(obj, h5ad_file)
 #' }
-write_h5ad <- function(object, path, compression = c("none", "gzip", "lzf")) {
+write_h5ad <- function(object, path, compression = c("none", "gzip", "lzf"),
+                       overwrite = FALSE) {
+
+  if (file.exists(path) && !overwrite) {
+    stop("'", path, "' already exists, set `overwrite = TRUE` to overwrite this file")
+  }
+
   if (inherits(object, "SingleCellExperiment")) {
     from_SingleCellExperiment(
       object,
diff --git a/man/to_HDF5AnnData.Rd b/man/to_HDF5AnnData.Rd
index e14aa376..eaa73c2e 100644
--- a/man/to_HDF5AnnData.Rd
+++ b/man/to_HDF5AnnData.Rd
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ ad <- AnnData(
   obs_names = LETTERS[1:3],
   var_names = letters[1:5]
 )
-to_HDF5AnnData(ad, "test.h5ad")
-# remove file
-file.remove("test.h5ad")
+h5ad_file <- tempfile(fileext = ".h5ad")
+to_HDF5AnnData(ad, h5ad_file)
 }
diff --git a/man/write_h5ad.Rd b/man/write_h5ad.Rd
index a88142ed..f63e5f5d 100644
--- a/man/write_h5ad.Rd
+++ b/man/write_h5ad.Rd
@@ -4,7 +4,12 @@
 \alias{write_h5ad}
 \title{Write H5AD}
 \usage{
-write_h5ad(object, path, compression = c("none", "gzip", "lzf"))
+write_h5ad(
+  object,
+  path,
+  compression = c("none", "gzip", "lzf"),
+  overwrite = FALSE
+)
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{object}{The object to write, either a "SingleCellExperiment" or a
@@ -15,6 +20,8 @@ write_h5ad(object, path, compression = c("none", "gzip", "lzf"))
 \item{compression}{The compression algorithm to use when writing the
 HDF5 file. Can be one of \code{"none"}, \code{"gzip"} or \code{"lzf"}. Defaults to
 \code{"none"}.}
+
+\item{overwrite}{Whether or not to overwrite \code{path} if it already exists}
 }
 \value{
 \code{path} invisibly