diff --git a/lib/cartodb/template_maps.js b/lib/cartodb/template_maps.js
index 01940d9f..f2c4e9c2 100644
--- a/lib/cartodb/template_maps.js
+++ b/lib/cartodb/template_maps.js
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ o.addTemplate = function(owner, template, callback) {
             return true;
         },
         function finish(err) {
-            callback(err, templateName);
+            callback(err, templateName, template);
         }
   );
 };
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ o.updTemplate = function(owner, tpl_id, template, callback) {
             return true;
         },
         function finish(err) {
-            callback(err);
+            callback(err, template);
         }
     );
 };
diff --git a/test/unit/cartodb/template_maps_defaults.test.js b/test/unit/cartodb/template_maps_defaults.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a8f8acfb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/cartodb/template_maps_defaults.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+var assert = require('assert');
+var RedisPool = require('redis-mpool');
+var TemplateMaps = require('../../../lib/cartodb/template_maps.js');
+var test_helper = require('../../support/test_helper');
+var _ = require('underscore');
+
+suite('template_maps', function() {
+
+    var redisPool = new RedisPool(global.environment.redis),
+        templateMaps = new TemplateMaps(redisPool);
+
+    var owner = 'me';
+    var templateName = 'wadus';
+
+
+    var defaultTemplate = {
+        version:'0.0.1',
+        name: templateName,
+        layergroup: {
+            layers: []
+        }
+    };
+
+    function makeTemplate(auth, placeholders) {
+        return _.extend({}, defaultTemplate, {
+            auth: auth,
+            placeholders: placeholders
+        });
+    }
+
+    var defaultAuth = {
+        method: 'open'
+    };
+
+    var authTokenSample = {
+        method: 'token',
+        valid_tokens: ['wadus_token']
+    };
+
+    var placeholdersSample = {
+        wadus: {
+            type: 'number',
+            default: 1
+        }
+    };
+
+    var testScenarios = [
+        {
+            desc: 'default auth and placeholders values',
+            template: defaultTemplate,
+            expected: {
+                auth: defaultAuth,
+                placeholders: {}
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            desc: 'default placeholders but specified auth',
+            template: makeTemplate(authTokenSample),
+            expected: {
+                auth: authTokenSample,
+                placeholders: {}
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            desc: 'default auth but specified placeholders',
+            template: makeTemplate(undefined, placeholdersSample),
+            expected: {
+                auth: defaultAuth,
+                placeholders: placeholdersSample
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            desc: 'specified auth and placeholders',
+            template: makeTemplate(authTokenSample, placeholdersSample),
+            expected: {
+                auth: authTokenSample,
+                placeholders: placeholdersSample
+            }
+        }
+    ];
+
+    testScenarios.forEach(function(testScenario) {
+        test('adding template returns a new instance with ' + testScenario.desc, function(done) {
+
+            templateMaps.addTemplate(owner, testScenario.template, function(err, templateId, template) {
+                assert.ok(!err, 'Unexpected error adding template: ' + (err && err.message));
+                assert.ok(testScenario.template !== template, 'template instances should be different');
+                assert.equal(template.name, templateName);
+                assert.deepEqual(template.auth, testScenario.expected.auth);
+                assert.deepEqual(template.placeholders, testScenario.expected.placeholders);
+
+                templateMaps.delTemplate(owner, templateName, done);
+            });
+
+        });
+    });
+
+});