diff --git a/lib/6to5/util.js b/lib/6to5/util.js
index 3b0eb565c5..510fcec17e 100644
--- a/lib/6to5/util.js
+++ b/lib/6to5/util.js
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ var templateVisitor = {
       node = node.expression;
     }
     if (t.isIdentifier(node) && has(nodes, node.name)) {
+      this.skip();
       return nodes[node.name];
     }
   }
diff --git a/test/util.js b/test/util.js
index bc1a467bb2..80b80f5b7a 100644
--- a/test/util.js
+++ b/test/util.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 var assert = require("assert");
 var util   = require("../lib/6to5/util");
+var parse  = require("../lib/6to5/helpers/parse");
 var t      = require("../lib/6to5/types");
 
 suite("util", function () {
@@ -9,6 +10,23 @@ suite("util", function () {
     }, /unknown template/);
   });
 
+  test("templates do not recurse", function () {
+    var key = __filename;
+    var KEY = parse({ loc: key }, "replacedKey").program.body[0].expression;
+    var VALUE = parse({ loc: key }, "+KEY").program.body[0].expression;
+
+    util.templates[key] = util.parseTemplate(key, "KEY = VALUE;");
+    var result = util.template(key, {KEY: KEY, VALUE: VALUE});
+    delete util.templates[key];
+
+    assert.strictEqual(
+      result.right.argument.name,
+      "KEY",
+      "template should not recurse into replaced nodes, " +
+        "replacing KEY inside VALUE"
+    );
+  });
+
   test("canCompile", function () {
     assert.ok(util.canCompile("test.js"));
     assert.ok(util.canCompile("/test.js"));