diff --git a/lib/6to5/util.js b/lib/6to5/util.js
index 2c67d6169e..2177b3937a 100644
--- a/lib/6to5/util.js
+++ b/lib/6to5/util.js
@@ -132,7 +132,10 @@ exports.buildDefineProperties = function (mutatorMap, keyNode) {
 };
 
 exports.template = function (name, nodes, keepExpression) {
-  var template = _.cloneDeep(exports.templates[name]);
+  var template = exports.templates[name];
+  if (!template) throw new ReferenceError("unknown template " + name);
+
+  template = _.cloneDeep(template);
 
   if (!_.isEmpty(nodes)) {
     traverse.replace(template, function (node) {
@@ -197,6 +200,9 @@ if (fs.existsSync(templatesCacheLoc)) {
   exports.templates = {};
 
   var templatesLoc = __dirname + "/templates";
+  if (!fs.existsSync(templatesLoc)) {
+    throw new Error("no templates directory - this is most likely the result of a broken `npm publish`. Please report to https://github.com/sebmck/6to5/issues");
+  }
 
   _.each(fs.readdirSync(templatesLoc), function (name) {
     var key  = path.basename(name, path.extname(name));