diff --git a/template/parse_test.go b/template/parse_test.go
index d5d9fcd8e..e99f35e51 100644
--- a/template/parse_test.go
+++ b/template/parse_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package template
 
 import (
 	"reflect"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -284,3 +285,16 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestParse_contents(t *testing.T) {
+	tpl, err := ParseFile(fixtureDir("parse-contents.json"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	actual := strings.TrimSpace(string(tpl.RawContents))
+	expected := `{"builders":[{"type":"test"}]}`
+	if actual != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %s\n\n%s", actual, expected)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/template/test-fixtures/parse-contents.json b/template/test-fixtures/parse-contents.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..edd70c12a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/test-fixtures/parse-contents.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"builders":[{"type":"test"}]}