diff --git a/MANUAL.txt b/MANUAL.txt
index 14ea6e2165af..c6770da0472d 100644
--- a/MANUAL.txt
+++ b/MANUAL.txt
@@ -761,14 +761,16 @@ header when requesting a document from a URL:
 `--template=`*FILE*|*URL*
 
 :   Use the specified file as a custom template for the generated document.
-    Implies `--standalone`. See [Templates], below, for a description
-    of template syntax. If no extension is specified, an extension
-    corresponding to the writer will be added, so that `--template=special`
-    looks for `special.html` for HTML output.  If the template is not
-    found, pandoc will search for it in the `templates` subdirectory of
-    the user data directory (see `--data-dir`). If this option is not used,
-    a default template appropriate for the output format will be used (see
-    `-D/--print-default-template`).
+    Implies `--standalone`. See [Templates], below, for a
+    description of template syntax. If the template is not found,
+    pandoc will search for it in the `templates` subdirectory of
+    the user data directory (see `--data-dir`). If no extension
+    is specified and an extensionless template is not found,
+    pandoc will look for a template with an extension
+    corresponding to the writer, so that `--template=special`
+    looks for `special.html` for HTML output. If this option is
+    not used, a default template appropriate for the output
+    format will be used (see `-D/--print-default-template`).
 
 `-V` *KEY*[`=`*VAL*], `--variable=`*KEY*[`:`*VAL*]
 
diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/App/OutputSettings.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/App/OutputSettings.hs
index f8c27bee4902..38cd35455ba6 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/App/OutputSettings.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/App/OutputSettings.hs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import qualified Data.Text as T
 import Text.DocTemplates (toVal, Context(..), Val(..))
 import qualified Control.Exception as E
 import Control.Monad
-import Control.Monad.Except (throwError)
+import Control.Monad.Except (throwError, catchError)
 import Control.Monad.Trans
 import Data.Char (toLower)
 import Data.List (find)
@@ -111,13 +111,15 @@ optToOutputSettings scriptingEngine opts = do
           _ | not standalone -> return Nothing
           Nothing -> Just <$> getDefault
           Just tp -> do
-            -- strip off extensions
-            let tp' = case takeExtension tp of
-                        "" -> tp <.> T.unpack format
-                        _  -> tp
-            getTemplate tp'
-              >>= runWithPartials . compileTemplate tp'
-              >>= fmap Just . templateOrThrow
+            let getAndCompile fp =
+                   getTemplate fp >>= runWithPartials . compileTemplate fp >>=
+                      fmap Just . templateOrThrow
+            catchError
+              (getAndCompile tp)
+              (\e ->
+                  if null (takeExtension tp)
+                     then getAndCompile (tp <.> T.unpack format)
+                     else throwError e)
 
   (writer, writerExts, mtemplate) <-
     if "lua" `T.isSuffixOf` format