diff --git a/pkg/helmexec/exec.go b/pkg/helmexec/exec.go
index 6bc3fa7c..ddef397c 100644
--- a/pkg/helmexec/exec.go
+++ b/pkg/helmexec/exec.go
@@ -650,7 +650,7 @@ func (helm *execer) TemplateRelease(name string, chart string, flags ...string)
 	var hasPostRenderer bool
 
 	for _, f := range flags {
-		if strings.HasPrefix("--output-dir", f) {
+		if f == "--output-dir" || strings.HasPrefix(f, "--output-dir=") {
 			outputToFile = true
 		}
 		if f == "--post-renderer" {
@@ -678,13 +678,28 @@ func (helm *execer) TemplateRelease(name string, chart string, flags ...string)
 			filteredFlags = append(filteredFlags, flags[i])
 		}
 
+		if outputDir == "" {
+			return fmt.Errorf("output dir not found for template command")
+		}
+
 		out, err := helm.exec(append(args, filteredFlags...), map[string]string{}, nil)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
+		templatesDir := filepath.Join(outputDir, "templates")
+		legacyOutputPath := filepath.Join(outputDir, name+".yaml")
+
+		if removeErr := os.Remove(legacyOutputPath); removeErr != nil && !os.IsNotExist(removeErr) {
+			return removeErr
+		}
+
 		if len(out) > 0 {
-			outputPath := filepath.Join(outputDir, name+".yaml")
+			if mkdirErr := os.MkdirAll(templatesDir, 0755); mkdirErr != nil {
+				return mkdirErr
+			}
+
+			outputPath := filepath.Join(templatesDir, name+".yaml")
 			if writeErr := os.WriteFile(outputPath, append(out, '\n'), 0644); writeErr != nil {
 				return writeErr
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/helmexec/exec_test.go b/pkg/helmexec/exec_test.go
index f399cf34..760315a8 100644
--- a/pkg/helmexec/exec_test.go
+++ b/pkg/helmexec/exec_test.go
@@ -1260,12 +1260,14 @@ func Test_Template_PostRendererWithOutputDir(t *testing.T) {
 	var buffer bytes.Buffer
 	logger := NewLogger(&buffer, "debug")
 
-	runner := &mockRunner{output: []byte("apiVersion: v1\nkind: Namespace\n")}
+	runner := &mockRunner{}
 	helm, err := New("helm", HelmExecOptions{}, logger, "config", "dev", runner)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 	}
 
+	runner.output = []byte("apiVersion: v1\nkind: Namespace\n")
+
 	err = helm.TemplateRelease("myrelease", "path/to/chart",
 		"--post-renderer", "/bin/echo",
 		"--output-dir", tmpDir,
@@ -1275,7 +1277,7 @@ func Test_Template_PostRendererWithOutputDir(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	outputPath := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "myrelease.yaml")
+	outputPath := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "templates", "myrelease.yaml")
 	data, err := os.ReadFile(outputPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("expected output file %s to exist: %v", outputPath, err)
diff --git a/test/integration/test-cases/issue-2515.sh b/test/integration/test-cases/issue-2515.sh
index 43c8ea7c..5ec9eac4 100644
--- a/test/integration/test-cases/issue-2515.sh
+++ b/test/integration/test-cases/issue-2515.sh
@@ -17,9 +17,14 @@ else
         --output-dir-template "${issue_2515_output_dir}/{{.Release.Name}}" \
         &> ${issue_2515_tmp}/log || fail "helmfile template should not fail"
 
-    issue_2515_output_file="${issue_2515_output_dir}/issue-2515/issue-2515.yaml"
-    if [ ! -f "${issue_2515_output_file}" ]; then
-        fail "Expected output file ${issue_2515_output_file} to exist"
+    issue_2515_templates_dir="${issue_2515_output_dir}/issue-2515/templates"
+    if [ ! -d "${issue_2515_templates_dir}" ]; then
+        fail "Expected templates directory ${issue_2515_templates_dir} to exist"
+    fi
+
+    issue_2515_output_file=$(find "${issue_2515_templates_dir}" -type f \( -name '*.yaml' -o -name '*.yml' \) | head -n 1)
+    if [ -z "${issue_2515_output_file}" ]; then
+        fail "Expected rendered YAML file under ${issue_2515_templates_dir}"
     fi
 
     if grep -q "original-cm" "${issue_2515_output_file}"; then