diff --git a/controllers/nginx/pkg/cmd/controller/nginx.go b/controllers/nginx/pkg/cmd/controller/nginx.go
index c6e8475ff..458f9f6c3 100644
--- a/controllers/nginx/pkg/cmd/controller/nginx.go
+++ b/controllers/nginx/pkg/cmd/controller/nginx.go
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ func (n *NGINXController) OnUpdate(ingressCfg ingress.Configuration) ([]byte, er
 		}
 	}
 
-	return n.t.Write(config.TemplateConfig{
+	content, err := n.t.Write(config.TemplateConfig{
 		ProxySetHeaders:     setHeaders,
 		MaxOpenFiles:        maxOpenFiles,
 		BacklogSize:         sysctlSomaxconn(),
@@ -361,7 +361,16 @@ func (n *NGINXController) OnUpdate(ingressCfg ingress.Configuration) ([]byte, er
 		HealthzURI:          ngxHealthPath,
 		CustomErrors:        len(cfg.CustomHTTPErrors) > 0,
 		Cfg:                 cfg,
-	}, n.testTemplate)
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	if err := n.testTemplate(content); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return content, nil
 }
 
 // Name returns the healthcheck name
diff --git a/controllers/nginx/pkg/template/template.go b/controllers/nginx/pkg/template/template.go
index 280b4860c..a083814f5 100644
--- a/controllers/nginx/pkg/template/template.go
+++ b/controllers/nginx/pkg/template/template.go
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func (t *Template) Close() {
 
 // Write populates a buffer using a template with NGINX configuration
 // and the servers and upstreams created by Ingress rules
-func (t *Template) Write(conf config.TemplateConfig, isValidTemplate func([]byte) error) ([]byte, error) {
+func (t *Template) Write(conf config.TemplateConfig) ([]byte, error) {
 	defer t.tmplBuf.Reset()
 	defer t.outCmdBuf.Reset()
 
@@ -111,22 +111,10 @@ func (t *Template) Write(conf config.TemplateConfig, isValidTemplate func([]byte
 	cmd.Stdout = t.outCmdBuf
 	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
 		glog.Warningf("unexpected error cleaning template: %v", err)
-		content := t.tmplBuf.Bytes()
-		err = isValidTemplate(content)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-
-		return content, nil
+		return t.tmplBuf.Bytes(), nil
 	}
 
-	content := t.outCmdBuf.Bytes()
-	err = isValidTemplate(content)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	return content, nil
+	return t.outCmdBuf.Bytes(), nil
 }
 
 var (
diff --git a/controllers/nginx/pkg/template/template_test.go b/controllers/nginx/pkg/template/template_test.go
index fde02e3ef..bd026f746 100644
--- a/controllers/nginx/pkg/template/template_test.go
+++ b/controllers/nginx/pkg/template/template_test.go
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ func TestTemplateWithData(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("invalid NGINX template: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	_, err = ngxTpl.Write(dat, func(b []byte) error { return nil })
+	_, err = ngxTpl.Write(dat)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("invalid NGINX template: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -166,6 +166,6 @@ func BenchmarkTemplateWithData(b *testing.B) {
 	}
 
 	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
-		ngxTpl.Write(dat, func(b []byte) error { return nil })
+		ngxTpl.Write(dat)
 	}
 }