diff --git a/packages/babel-cli/src/babel/util.js b/packages/babel-cli/src/babel/util.js
index fc1bf2b589..5dfa6217bc 100644
--- a/packages/babel-cli/src/babel/util.js
+++ b/packages/babel-cli/src/babel/util.js
@@ -6,7 +6,11 @@ import path from "path";
 import fs from "fs";
 
 export function chmod(src: string, dest: string): void {
-  fs.chmodSync(dest, fs.statSync(src).mode);
+  try {
+    fs.chmodSync(dest, fs.statSync(src).mode);
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.warn(`Cannot change permissions of ${dest}`);
+  }
 }
 
 type ReaddirFilter = (filename: string) => boolean;
diff --git a/packages/babel-cli/test/index.js b/packages/babel-cli/test/index.js
index 7cedb49e33..b605f3b623 100644
--- a/packages/babel-cli/test/index.js
+++ b/packages/babel-cli/test/index.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ const escapeRegExp = require("lodash/escapeRegExp");
 const merge = require("lodash/merge");
 const path = require("path");
 const fs = require("fs");
+const { chmod } = require("../lib/babel/util");
 
 const fixtureLoc = path.join(__dirname, "fixtures");
 const tmpLoc = path.join(__dirname, "tmp");
@@ -269,3 +270,15 @@ fs.readdirSync(fixtureLoc).forEach(function (binName) {
     });
   });
 });
+
+describe("util.js", () => {
+  describe("chmod", () => {
+    it("should warn the user if chmod fails", () => {
+      const spyConsoleWarn = jest.spyOn(console, "warn");
+      // should expect a string as first argument
+      chmod(100, "file.js");
+      expect(spyConsoleWarn).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      spyConsoleWarn.mockRestore();
+    });
+  });
+});