diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Filesystem/Filesystem.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Filesystem/Filesystem.php
index 3062bdb9b7..1c65dc4b8d 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Filesystem/Filesystem.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Filesystem/Filesystem.php
@@ -224,16 +224,17 @@ class Filesystem
     /**
      * Renames a file.
      *
-     * @param string $origin The origin filename
-     * @param string $target The new filename
+     * @param string  $origin    The origin filename
+     * @param string  $target    The new filename
+     * @param Boolean $overwrite Whether to overwrite the target if it already exists
      *
      * @throws IOException When target file already exists
      * @throws IOException When origin cannot be renamed
      */
-    public function rename($origin, $target)
+    public function rename($origin, $target, $overwrite = false)
     {
         // we check that target does not exist
-        if (is_readable($target)) {
+        if (!$overwrite && is_readable($target)) {
             throw new IOException(sprintf('Cannot rename because the target "%s" already exist.', $target));
         }
 
@@ -452,7 +453,7 @@ class Filesystem
             throw new IOException(sprintf('Failed to write file "%s".', $filename));
         }
 
-        $this->rename($tmpFile, $filename);
+        $this->rename($tmpFile, $filename, true);
         $this->chmod($filename, $mode);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Filesystem/Tests/FilesystemTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Filesystem/Tests/FilesystemTest.php
index 05a5015b95..7f13b6f2e8 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Filesystem/Tests/FilesystemTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Filesystem/Tests/FilesystemTest.php
@@ -639,6 +639,20 @@ class FilesystemTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
         $this->filesystem->rename($file, $newPath);
     }
 
+    public function testRenameOverwritesTheTargetIfItAlreadyExists()
+    {
+        $file = $this->workspace.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'file';
+        $newPath = $this->workspace.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'new_file';
+
+        touch($file);
+        touch($newPath);
+
+        $this->filesystem->rename($file, $newPath, true);
+
+        $this->assertFileNotExists($file);
+        $this->assertFileExists($newPath);
+    }
+
     /**
      * @expectedException \Symfony\Component\Filesystem\Exception\IOException
      */
@@ -894,6 +908,17 @@ class FilesystemTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
         $this->assertEquals(753, $this->getFilePermissions($filename));
     }
 
+    public function testDumpFileOverwritesAnExistingFile()
+    {
+        $filename = $this->workspace.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'foo.txt';
+        file_put_contents($filename, 'FOO BAR');
+
+        $this->filesystem->dumpFile($filename, 'bar');
+
+        $this->assertFileExists($filename);
+        $this->assertSame('bar', file_get_contents($filename));
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns file permissions as three digits (i.e. 755)
      *