diff --git a/assignment-client/src/assets/UploadAssetTask.cpp b/assignment-client/src/assets/UploadAssetTask.cpp
index e82b99fe99..5ca9b5bbf1 100644
--- a/assignment-client/src/assets/UploadAssetTask.cpp
+++ b/assignment-client/src/assets/UploadAssetTask.cpp
@@ -58,30 +58,46 @@ void UploadAssetTask::run() {
             << "is: (" << hexHash << ") ";
         
         QFile file { _resourcesDir.filePath(QString(hexHash)) };
+
+        bool existingCorrectFile = false;
         
         if (file.exists()) {
-            qDebug() << "[WARNING] This file already exists: " << hexHash;
+            // check if the local file has the correct contents, otherwise we overwrite
+            if (file.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly) && hashData(file.readAll()) == hash) {
+                qDebug() << "Not overwriting existing verified file: " << hexHash;
 
-            replyPacket->writePrimitive(AssetServerError::NoError);
-            replyPacket->write(hash);
-        } else if (file.open(QIODevice::WriteOnly) && file.write(fileData) == qint64(fileSize)) {
-            qDebug() << "Wrote file" << hash << "to disk. Upload complete";
-            file.close();
+                existingCorrectFile = true;
 
-            replyPacket->writePrimitive(AssetServerError::NoError);
-            replyPacket->write(hash);
-        } else {
-            qWarning() << "Failed to upload or write to file" << hexHash << " - upload failed.";
-
-            // upload has failed - remove the file and return an error
-            auto removed = file.remove();
-
-            if (!removed) {
-                qWarning() << "Removal of failed upload file" << hexHash << "failed.";
+                replyPacket->writePrimitive(AssetServerError::NoError);
+                replyPacket->write(hash);
+            } else {
+                qDebug() << "Overwriting an existing file whose contents did not match the expected hash: " << hexHash;
+                file.close();
             }
-
-            replyPacket->writePrimitive(AssetServerError::FileOperationFailed);
         }
+
+        if (!existingCorrectFile) {
+            if (file.open(QIODevice::WriteOnly) && file.write(fileData) == qint64(fileSize)) {
+                qDebug() << "Wrote file" << hexHash << "to disk. Upload complete";
+                file.close();
+
+                replyPacket->writePrimitive(AssetServerError::NoError);
+                replyPacket->write(hash);
+            } else {
+                qWarning() << "Failed to upload or write to file" << hexHash << " - upload failed.";
+
+                // upload has failed - remove the file and return an error
+                auto removed = file.remove();
+
+                if (!removed) {
+                    qWarning() << "Removal of failed upload file" << hexHash << "failed.";
+                }
+                
+                replyPacket->writePrimitive(AssetServerError::FileOperationFailed);
+            }
+        }
+
+
     }
     
     auto nodeList = DependencyManager::get<NodeList>();