diff --git a/hls4ml/writer/catapult_writer.py b/hls4ml/writer/catapult_writer.py
index ba7e511995..86181bada0 100755
--- a/hls4ml/writer/catapult_writer.py
+++ b/hls4ml/writer/catapult_writer.py
@@ -893,11 +893,12 @@ def write_tar(self, model):
             model (ModelGraph): the hls4ml model.
         """
 
-        if not os.path.exists(model.config.get_output_dir() + '.tar.gz'):
-            with tarfile.open(model.config.get_output_dir() + '.tar.gz', mode='w:gz') as archive:
+        if model.config.get_writer_config().get('WriteTar', False):
+            tar_path = model.config.get_output_dir() + '.tar.gz'
+            if os.path.exists(tar_path):
+                os.remove(tar_path)
+            with tarfile.open(tar_path, mode='w:gz') as archive:
                 archive.add(model.config.get_output_dir(), recursive=True)
-        else:
-            print('Project .tar.gz archive already exists')
 
     def write_hls(self, model):
         self.write_output_dir(model)
diff --git a/test/pytest/test_catapult_writer.py b/test/pytest/test_catapult_writer.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cfd6e84b93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pytest/test_catapult_writer.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+from hls4ml.writer.catapult_writer import CatapultWriter
+
+
+class DummyConfig:
+    def __init__(self, output_dir, write_tar):
+        self.output_dir = str(output_dir)
+        self.writer_config = {'WriteTar': write_tar}
+
+    def get_output_dir(self):
+        return self.output_dir
+
+    def get_writer_config(self):
+        return self.writer_config
+
+
+class DummyModel:
+    def __init__(self, output_dir, write_tar):
+        self.config = DummyConfig(output_dir, write_tar)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('write_tar', [True, False])
+def test_catapult_write_tar_respects_writer_config(tmp_path, write_tar):
+    output_dir = tmp_path / 'myproject'
+    output_dir.mkdir()
+    (output_dir / 'marker.txt').write_text('marker')
+
+    CatapultWriter().write_tar(DummyModel(output_dir, write_tar))
+
+    assert Path(f'{output_dir}.tar.gz').exists() == write_tar