diff --git a/bin/jekyll b/bin/jekyll
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
index 2e631bbb..b2c6fab9
--- a/bin/jekyll
+++ b/bin/jekyll
@@ -37,8 +37,10 @@ command :new do |c|
   c.syntax = 'jekyll new PATH'
   c.description = 'Creates a new Jekyll site scaffold in PATH'
 
+  c.option '--force', 'Force creation even if PATH already exists'
+
   c.action do |args, options|
-    Jekyll::Commands::New.process(args)
+    Jekyll::Commands::New.process(args, options.__hash__)
   end
 end
 
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/commands/new.rb b/lib/jekyll/commands/new.rb
index f6c38fc7..fc8a96f7 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/commands/new.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/commands/new.rb
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@ require 'erb'
 module Jekyll
   module Commands
     class New < Command
-      def self.process(args)
+      def self.process(args, options = {})
         raise ArgumentError.new('You must specify a path.') if args.empty?
 
         new_blog_path = File.expand_path(args.join(" "), Dir.pwd)
         FileUtils.mkdir_p new_blog_path
-        unless Dir["#{new_blog_path}/**/*"].empty?
+        if !options[:force] && !Dir["#{new_blog_path}/**/*"].empty?
           Jekyll::Stevenson.error "Conflict:", "#{new_blog_path} exists and is not empty."
           exit(1)
         end