diff --git a/model/src/main/resources/reference.yml b/model/src/main/resources/reference.yml
index 9ca4b9385a288..fedd2b1dd4268 100644
--- a/model/src/main/resources/reference.yml
+++ b/model/src/main/resources/reference.yml
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ ort:
   enableRepositoryPackageConfigurations: true
   enableRepositoryPackageCurations: true
 
+  # Force overwriting of any existing output files.
+  forceOverwrite: true
+
   licenseFilePatterns:
     licenseFilenames: ['license*']
     patentFilenames: ['patents']
diff --git a/model/src/test/kotlin/config/OrtConfigurationTest.kt b/model/src/test/kotlin/config/OrtConfigurationTest.kt
index 90a591052291f..c5439b95cae05 100644
--- a/model/src/test/kotlin/config/OrtConfigurationTest.kt
+++ b/model/src/test/kotlin/config/OrtConfigurationTest.kt
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ class OrtConfigurationTest : WordSpec({
             ortConfig.enableRepositoryPackageConfigurations shouldBe true
             ortConfig.enableRepositoryPackageCurations shouldBe true
 
+            ortConfig.forceOverwrite shouldBe true
+
             with(ortConfig.licenseFilePatterns) {
                 licenseFilenames shouldContainExactly listOf("license*")
                 patentFilenames shouldContainExactly listOf("patents")