diff --git a/src/InputOutput/writers.jl b/src/InputOutput/writers.jl
index 29486ea897..673663477f 100644
--- a/src/InputOutput/writers.jl
+++ b/src/InputOutput/writers.jl
@@ -59,7 +59,9 @@ function HDF5Writer(
     else
         file = h5open(filename, mode, context.mpicomm)
     end
-    write_attribute(file, "ClimaCore version", string(VERSION))
+    # Add an attribute to the file if it doesn't already exist
+    haskey(attributes(file), "ClimaCore version") ||
+        write_attribute(file, "ClimaCore version", string(VERSION))
     cache = Dict{String, String}()
     return HDF5Writer(file, context, cache)
 end