diff --git a/meshmode/__init__.py b/meshmode/__init__.py
index 1c38d87894841834007489ac2a4eea5175ba1428..9512b4a25aec6e3450e0a0bd2fc7ecc72452ca41 100644
--- a/meshmode/__init__.py
+++ b/meshmode/__init__.py
@@ -26,8 +26,11 @@ THE SOFTWARE.
 __doc__ = """
 .. exception:: Error
 .. exception:: DataUnavailable
+.. exception:: FileExistsError
 """
 
+import six
+
 
 class Error(RuntimeError):
     pass
@@ -35,3 +38,10 @@ class Error(RuntimeError):
 
 class DataUnavailable(Error):
     pass
+
+
+if six.PY3:
+    from builtins import FileExistsError
+else:
+    class FileExistsError(OSError):
+        pass
diff --git a/meshmode/discretization/visualization.py b/meshmode/discretization/visualization.py
index 704ef1bdc8c320a9b6055275f8fd83deae69a9f5..2352081e6555fc9dd2b63b69c81d870c7f9e103d 100644
--- a/meshmode/discretization/visualization.py
+++ b/meshmode/discretization/visualization.py
@@ -275,8 +275,10 @@ class Visualizer(object):
 
     # {{{ vtk
 
-    def write_vtk_file(self, file_name, names_and_fields, compressor=None,
-            real_only=False):
+    def write_vtk_file(self, file_name, names_and_fields,
+                       compressor=None,
+                       real_only=False,
+                       overwrite=False):
 
         from pyvisfile.vtk import (
                 UnstructuredGrid, DataArray,
@@ -333,10 +335,13 @@ class Visualizer(object):
             grid.add_pointdata(DataArray(name, field,
                 vector_format=VF_LIST_OF_COMPONENTS))
 
-        from os.path import exists
-        if exists(file_name):
-            raise RuntimeError("output file '%s' already exists"
-                    % file_name)
+        import os
+        from meshmode import FileExistsError
+        if os.path.exists(file_name):
+            if overwrite:
+                os.remove(file_name)
+            else:
+                raise FileExistsError("output file '%s' already exists" % file_name)
 
         with open(file_name, "w") as outf:
             AppendedDataXMLGenerator(compressor)(grid).write(outf)
@@ -393,7 +398,9 @@ def draw_curve(discr):
 
 # {{{ adjacency
 
-def write_nodal_adjacency_vtk_file(file_name, mesh, compressor=None,):
+def write_nodal_adjacency_vtk_file(file_name, mesh,
+                                   compressor=None,
+                                   overwrite=False):
     from pyvisfile.vtk import (
             UnstructuredGrid, DataArray,
             AppendedDataXMLGenerator,
@@ -430,10 +437,13 @@ def write_nodal_adjacency_vtk_file(file_name, mesh, compressor=None,):
             cell_types=np.asarray([VTK_LINE] * nconnections,
                 dtype=np.uint8))
 
-    from os.path import exists
-    if exists(file_name):
-        raise RuntimeError("output file '%s' already exists"
-                % file_name)
+    import os
+    from meshmode import FileExistsError
+    if os.path.exists(file_name):
+        if overwrite:
+            os.remove(file_name)
+        else:
+            raise FileExistsError("output file '%s' already exists" % file_name)
 
     with open(file_name, "w") as outf:
         AppendedDataXMLGenerator(compressor)(grid).write(outf)
diff --git a/meshmode/mesh/visualization.py b/meshmode/mesh/visualization.py
index a4d6facd061960c56fe3030fa801072afc461d17..53da2663ca76b5499456279a4cabb45cc963141c 100644
--- a/meshmode/mesh/visualization.py
+++ b/meshmode/mesh/visualization.py
@@ -171,7 +171,9 @@ def draw_curve(mesh,
 
 # {{{ write_vtk_file
 
-def write_vertex_vtk_file(mesh, file_name, compressor=None):
+def write_vertex_vtk_file(mesh, file_name,
+                          compressor=None,
+                          overwrite=False):
     from pyvisfile.vtk import (
             UnstructuredGrid, DataArray,
             AppendedDataXMLGenerator,
@@ -223,10 +225,13 @@ def write_vertex_vtk_file(mesh, file_name, compressor=None):
                 for vgrp in mesh.groups]),
             cell_types=cell_types)
 
-    from os.path import exists
-    if exists(file_name):
-        raise RuntimeError("output file '%s' already exists"
-                % file_name)
+    import os
+    from meshmode import FileExistsError
+    if os.path.exists(file_name):
+        if overwrite:
+            os.remove(file_name)
+        else:
+            raise FileExistsError("output file '%s' already exists" % file_name)
 
     with open(file_name, "w") as outf:
         AppendedDataXMLGenerator(compressor)(grid).write(outf)
diff --git a/test/test_meshmode.py b/test/test_meshmode.py
index 9e8791492d0a978cbd8f0acf0b928a8e6265dd48..e97d8efa036f378272b7f94588f1e867265d9a35 100644
--- a/test/test_meshmode.py
+++ b/test/test_meshmode.py
@@ -1040,6 +1040,54 @@ def test_quad_multi_element():
         plt.show()
 
 
+def test_vtk_overwrite(ctx_getter):
+    pytest.importorskip("pyvisfile")
+
+    def _try_write_vtk(writer, obj):
+        import os
+        from meshmode import FileExistsError
+
+        filename = "test_vtk_overwrite.vtu"
+        if os.path.exists(filename):
+            os.remove(filename)
+
+        writer(filename, [])
+        with pytest.raises(FileExistsError):
+            writer(filename, [])
+
+        writer(filename, [], overwrite=True)
+        if os.path.exists(filename):
+            os.remove(filename)
+
+    ctx = ctx_getter()
+    queue = cl.CommandQueue(ctx)
+
+    target_order = 7
+
+    from meshmode.mesh.generation import generate_torus
+    mesh = generate_torus(10.0, 2.0, order=target_order)
+
+    from meshmode.discretization import Discretization
+    from meshmode.discretization.poly_element import \
+            InterpolatoryQuadratureSimplexGroupFactory
+    discr = Discretization(
+            queue.context, mesh,
+            InterpolatoryQuadratureSimplexGroupFactory(target_order))
+
+    from meshmode.discretization.visualization import make_visualizer
+    from meshmode.discretization.visualization import \
+            write_nodal_adjacency_vtk_file
+    from meshmode.mesh.visualization import write_vertex_vtk_file
+
+    vis = make_visualizer(queue, discr, 1)
+    _try_write_vtk(vis.write_vtk_file, discr)
+
+    _try_write_vtk(lambda x, y, **kwargs:
+            write_vertex_vtk_file(discr.mesh, x, **kwargs), discr.mesh)
+    _try_write_vtk(lambda x, y, **kwargs:
+            write_nodal_adjacency_vtk_file(x, discr.mesh, **kwargs), discr.mesh)
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     import sys
     if len(sys.argv) > 1: