diff --git a/pegleg/cli/commands.py b/pegleg/cli/commands.py
index c7fceab0..a460d783 100644
--- a/pegleg/cli/commands.py
+++ b/pegleg/cli/commands.py
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ def show(*, save_location, site_name):
 
 
 @site.command('render', help='Render a site through the deckhand engine.')
-@utils.SAVE_LOCATION_OPTION
+@utils.SAVE_FILE_OPTION
 @click.option(
     '-v',
     '--validate',
diff --git a/pegleg/cli/utils.py b/pegleg/cli/utils.py
index ee712e5e..e1af0cde 100644
--- a/pegleg/cli/utils.py
+++ b/pegleg/cli/utils.py
@@ -95,9 +95,20 @@ SAVE_LOCATION_OPTION = click.option(
     '-o',  # DEPRECATED
     '--output',  # DEPRECATED
     'save_location',
+    type=click.Path(writable=True),
     help='Where to save the output. Defaults to stdout. '
     '-o (--output) is deprecated and will be removed.')
 
+SAVE_FILE_OPTION = click.option(
+    '-s',
+    '--save-location',
+    '-o',  # DEPRECATED
+    '--output',  # DEPRECATED
+    'save_location',
+    type=click.Path(dir_okay=False, file_okay=True, writable=True),
+    help='File to save the output. Defaults to stdout. '
+    '-o (--output) is deprecated and will be removed.')
+
 REPOSITORY_CLONE_PATH_OPTION = click.option(
     '-p',
     '--clone-path',