diff --git a/template/CMakeLists.txt b/template/CMakeLists.txt
index 2cd197a1..c934e6ca 100644
--- a/template/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/template/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,8 +6,11 @@ file( GLOB template_lst RELATIVE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR} * )
 
 # don't include CMakeLists.txt or CMakeLists.txt~ which could be in the GLOB list
 string( REGEX REPLACE "CMakeLists.txt~*;?" "" template_lst "${template_lst}" )
-#message( template_lst:${template_lst} )
 
+# guard against an in tree "build"
+string( REGEX REPLACE "CMakeFiles/[^;]+;?" "" template_lst "${template_lst}" )
+
+#message( template_lst:${template_lst} )
 
 foreach( tpl ${template_lst} )
     #message( tpl:${tpl} )