diff --git a/include/pdal/Options.hpp b/include/pdal/Options.hpp
index aef2a7115c..682308b59f 100644
--- a/include/pdal/Options.hpp
+++ b/include/pdal/Options.hpp
@@ -312,6 +312,11 @@ class PDAL_DLL Options
         return (m_options.size() == 0);
     }
 
+    size_t size() const
+    {
+        return m_options.size();
+    }
+
     Options const operator+(const Options& rhs)
     {
         return Options(*this) += rhs;
diff --git a/include/pdal/Stage.hpp b/include/pdal/Stage.hpp
index f7f841416c..73bdd99844 100644
--- a/include/pdal/Stage.hpp
+++ b/include/pdal/Stage.hpp
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@ class PDAL_DLL Stage
         { return m_options; }
     void setOptions(Options options)
         { m_options = options; }
-    void addOptions(Options opts)
+    void addConditionalOptions(const Options& opts);
+    void addOptions(const Options& opts)
     {
         for (const auto& o : opts.getOptions())
             m_options.add(o);
diff --git a/kernels/tindex/TIndexKernel.cpp b/kernels/tindex/TIndexKernel.cpp
index f71ffc26b9..548c890809 100644
--- a/kernels/tindex/TIndexKernel.cpp
+++ b/kernels/tindex/TIndexKernel.cpp
@@ -441,6 +441,8 @@ void TIndexKernel::mergeFile()
     }
     writer->setInput(merge);
 
+    applyExtraStageOptionsRecursive(writer);
+
     Options writerOptions;
     writerOptions.add("filename", m_filespec);
     writerOptions.add("scale_x", 1e-9);
@@ -449,7 +451,7 @@ void TIndexKernel::mergeFile()
     writerOptions.add("offset_x", "auto");
     writerOptions.add("offset_y", "auto");
     writerOptions.add("offset_z", "auto");
-    writer->setOptions(writerOptions);
+    writer->addConditionalOptions(writerOptions);
 
     PointTable table;
 
diff --git a/src/Stage.cpp b/src/Stage.cpp
index 8f21550de8..976c8f80d6 100644
--- a/src/Stage.cpp
+++ b/src/Stage.cpp
@@ -52,6 +52,18 @@ Stage::Stage()
 }
 
 
+/// Only add options if an option with the same name doesn't already exist.
+///
+/// \param[in] ops  Options to add.
+///
+void Stage::addConditionalOptions(const Options& opts)
+{
+    for (const auto& o : opts.getOptions())
+        if (!m_options.hasOption(o.getName()))
+            m_options.add(o);
+}
+
+
 void Stage::Construct()
 {
     m_debug = false;
diff --git a/test/unit/OptionsTest.cpp b/test/unit/OptionsTest.cpp
index 671778a319..b001e271ca 100644
--- a/test/unit/OptionsTest.cpp
+++ b/test/unit/OptionsTest.cpp
@@ -335,3 +335,34 @@ TEST(OptionsTest, metadata)
     }
     EXPECT_TRUE(Support::compare_files(goodfile, testfile));
 }
+
+TEST(OptionsTest, conditional)
+{
+    CropFilter s;
+
+    Options ops;
+    ops.add("foo", "foo");
+    ops.add("bar", "bar");
+    ops.add("baz", "baz");
+
+    s.setOptions(ops);
+
+    Options condOps;
+    condOps.add("foo", "lose");
+    condOps.add("bar", "lose");
+    condOps.add("baz", "lose");
+    condOps.add("foot", "win");
+    condOps.add("barf", "win");
+    condOps.add("bazel", "win");
+
+    s.addConditionalOptions(condOps);
+    ops = s.getOptions();
+    EXPECT_EQ(ops.size(), 6u);
+    EXPECT_EQ(ops.getValueOrDefault("foo", std::string()), "foo");
+    EXPECT_EQ(ops.getValueOrDefault("bar", std::string()), "bar");
+    EXPECT_EQ(ops.getValueOrDefault("baz", std::string()), "baz");
+    EXPECT_EQ(ops.getValueOrDefault("foot", std::string()), "win");
+    EXPECT_EQ(ops.getValueOrDefault("barf", std::string()), "win");
+    EXPECT_EQ(ops.getValueOrDefault("bazel", std::string()), "win");
+}
+