diff --git a/src/compiler/program.ts b/src/compiler/program.ts
index 9852b2354e2e5..0f98b46d933c2 100644
--- a/src/compiler/program.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/program.ts
@@ -559,6 +559,12 @@ namespace ts {
         sourceMap: false,
     };
 
+    interface OutputFingerprint {
+        hash: string;
+        byteOrderMark: boolean;
+        mtime: Date;
+    }
+
     export function createCompilerHost(options: CompilerOptions, setParentNodes?: boolean): CompilerHost {
         const existingDirectories: Map<boolean> = {};
 
@@ -609,11 +615,50 @@ namespace ts {
             }
         }
 
+        let outputFingerprints: Map<OutputFingerprint>;
+
+        function writeFileIfUpdated(fileName: string, data: string, writeByteOrderMark: boolean): void {
+            if (!outputFingerprints) {
+                outputFingerprints = {};
+            }
+
+            const hash = sys.createHash(data);
+            const mtimeBefore = sys.getModifiedTime(fileName);
+
+            if (mtimeBefore && hasProperty(outputFingerprints, fileName)) {
+                const fingerprint = outputFingerprints[fileName];
+
+                // If output has not been changed, and the file has no external modification
+                if (fingerprint.byteOrderMark === writeByteOrderMark &&
+                    fingerprint.hash === hash &&
+                    fingerprint.mtime.getTime() === mtimeBefore.getTime()) {
+                    return;
+                }
+            }
+
+            sys.writeFile(fileName, data, writeByteOrderMark);
+
+            const mtimeAfter = sys.getModifiedTime(fileName);
+
+            outputFingerprints[fileName] = {
+                hash,
+                byteOrderMark: writeByteOrderMark,
+                mtime: mtimeAfter
+            };
+        }
+
         function writeFile(fileName: string, data: string, writeByteOrderMark: boolean, onError?: (message: string) => void) {
             try {
                 const start = new Date().getTime();
                 ensureDirectoriesExist(getDirectoryPath(normalizePath(fileName)));
-                sys.writeFile(fileName, data, writeByteOrderMark);
+
+                if (options.watch && sys.createHash && sys.getModifiedTime) {
+                    writeFileIfUpdated(fileName, data, writeByteOrderMark);
+                }
+                else {
+                    sys.writeFile(fileName, data, writeByteOrderMark);
+                }
+
                 ioWriteTime += new Date().getTime() - start;
             }
             catch (e) {
diff --git a/src/compiler/sys.ts b/src/compiler/sys.ts
index 9c3972b27566a..99008d4cc7e8d 100644
--- a/src/compiler/sys.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/sys.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ namespace ts {
         getExecutingFilePath(): string;
         getCurrentDirectory(): string;
         readDirectory(path: string, extension?: string, exclude?: string[]): string[];
+        getModifiedTime?(path: string): Date;
+        createHash?(data: string): string;
         getMemoryUsage?(): number;
         exit(exitCode?: number): void;
     }
@@ -226,6 +228,7 @@ namespace ts {
             const _fs = require("fs");
             const _path = require("path");
             const _os = require("os");
+            const _crypto = require("crypto");
 
             // average async stat takes about 30 microseconds
             // set chunk size to do 30 files in < 1 millisecond
@@ -556,6 +559,19 @@ namespace ts {
                     return process.cwd();
                 },
                 readDirectory,
+                getModifiedTime(path) {
+                    try {
+                        return _fs.statSync(path).mtime;
+                    }
+                    catch (e) {
+                        return undefined;
+                    }
+                },
+                createHash(data) {
+                    const hash = _crypto.createHash("md5");
+                    hash.update(data);
+                    return hash.digest("hex");
+                },
                 getMemoryUsage() {
                     if (global.gc) {
                         global.gc();