diff --git a/heat/db/api.py b/heat/db/api.py
index 48b4ed246..c43579868 100644
--- a/heat/db/api.py
+++ b/heat/db/api.py
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ def raw_template_create(context, values):
     return IMPL.raw_template_create(context, values)
 
 
-def raw_template_update_template(context, template_id, template):
-    return IMPL.raw_template_update_template(context, template_id, template)
+def raw_template_update(context, template_id, values):
+    return IMPL.raw_template_update(context, template_id, values)
 
 
 def resource_data_get_all(resource, data=None):
diff --git a/heat/db/sqlalchemy/api.py b/heat/db/sqlalchemy/api.py
index 377a8c078..a0a61c7ad 100644
--- a/heat/db/sqlalchemy/api.py
+++ b/heat/db/sqlalchemy/api.py
@@ -92,10 +92,15 @@ def raw_template_create(context, values):
     return raw_template_ref
 
 
-def raw_template_update_template(context, template_id, template):
+def raw_template_update(context, template_id, values):
     raw_template_ref = raw_template_get(context, template_id)
-    if raw_template_ref.template != template:
-        raw_template_ref.update_and_save({'template': template})
+    # get only the changed values
+    values = dict((k, v) for k, v in values.items()
+                  if getattr(raw_template_ref, k) != v)
+
+    if values:
+        raw_template_ref.update_and_save(values)
+
     return raw_template_ref
 
 
diff --git a/heat/engine/template.py b/heat/engine/template.py
index ee2638edc..34b05fb9f 100644
--- a/heat/engine/template.py
+++ b/heat/engine/template.py
@@ -118,15 +118,15 @@ class Template(collections.Mapping):
 
     def store(self, context=None):
         '''Store the Template in the database and return its ID.'''
+        rt = {
+            'template': self.t,
+            'files': self.files
+        }
         if self.id is None:
-            rt = {
-                'template': self.t,
-                'files': self.files
-            }
             new_rt = db_api.raw_template_create(context, rt)
             self.id = new_rt.id
         else:
-            db_api.raw_template_update_template(context, self.id, self.t)
+            db_api.raw_template_update(context, self.id, rt)
         return self.id
 
     def __iter__(self):
diff --git a/heat/tests/test_sqlalchemy_api.py b/heat/tests/test_sqlalchemy_api.py
index 870e0ab28..54497adaa 100644
--- a/heat/tests/test_sqlalchemy_api.py
+++ b/heat/tests/test_sqlalchemy_api.py
@@ -1191,6 +1191,48 @@ class DBAPIRawTemplateTest(HeatTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(tp.id, template.id)
         self.assertEqual(tp.template, template.template)
 
+    def test_raw_template_update(self):
+        another_wp_template = '''
+        {
+          "AWSTemplateFormatVersion" : "2010-09-09",
+          "Description" : "WordPress",
+          "Parameters" : {
+            "KeyName" : {
+              "Description" : "KeyName",
+              "Type" : "String",
+              "Default" : "test"
+            }
+          },
+          "Resources" : {
+            "WebServer": {
+              "Type": "AWS::EC2::Instance",
+              "Properties": {
+                "ImageId" : "fedora-20.x86_64.qcow2",
+                "InstanceType"   : "m1.xlarge",
+                "KeyName"        : "test",
+                "UserData"       : "wordpress"
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+        '''
+        new_t = template_format.parse(another_wp_template)
+        new_files = {
+            'foo': 'bar',
+            'myfile': 'file:///home/somefile'
+        }
+        new_values = {
+            'template': new_t,
+            'files': new_files
+        }
+        orig_tp = create_raw_template(self.ctx)
+        updated_tp = db_api.raw_template_update(self.ctx,
+                                                orig_tp.id, new_values)
+
+        self.assertEqual(updated_tp.id, orig_tp.id)
+        self.assertEqual(updated_tp.template, new_t)
+        self.assertEqual(updated_tp.files, new_files)
+
 
 class DBAPIUserCredsTest(HeatTestCase):
     def setUp(self):