diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/training_io.py b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/training_io.py
index 168e983585c2a..e45dfb3dfd175 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/training_io.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/training_io.py
@@ -255,17 +255,22 @@ def term_handler(self, signum, frame):
     # --------------------
     # MODEL SAVE CHECKPOINT
     # --------------------
+    def _atomic_save(self, checkpoint, filepath):
+        tmp_path = str(filepath) + ".part"
+        torch.save(checkpoint, tmp_path)
+        os.replace(tmp_path, filepath)
+
     def save_checkpoint(self, filepath):
         checkpoint = self.dump_checkpoint()
 
         # do the actual save
         try:
-            torch.save(checkpoint, filepath)
+            self._atomic_save(checkpoint, filepath)
         except AttributeError:
             if 'hparams' in checkpoint:
                 del checkpoint['hparams']
 
-            torch.save(checkpoint, filepath)
+            self._atomic_save(checkpoint, filepath)
 
     def restore(self, checkpoint_path, on_gpu):
         # if on_gpu:
@@ -412,12 +417,12 @@ def hpc_save(self, folderpath, logger):
         # do the actual save
         # TODO: fix for anything with multiprocess DP, DDP, DDP2
         try:
-            torch.save(checkpoint, filepath)
+            self._atomic_save(checkpoint, filepath)
         except AttributeError:
             if 'hparams' in checkpoint:
                 del checkpoint['hparams']
 
-            torch.save(checkpoint, filepath)
+            self._atomic_save(checkpoint, filepath)
 
         return filepath