diff --git a/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/pref/PreferenceDialog.java b/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/pref/PreferenceDialog.java
index 703fb7c26d..b71bb637f0 100644
--- a/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/pref/PreferenceDialog.java
+++ b/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/pref/PreferenceDialog.java
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ protected void configure() {
         makeCloseableOnEscape();
 
         view.setDefaultCloseOperation(JDialog.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
-        view.setModal(true);
+        view.setModalityType(Dialog.ModalityType.MODELESS);
     }
 
     protected void registerPanel(final String name, final CayenneController panelController) {
diff --git a/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/FileTemplateSaver.java b/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/FileTemplateSaver.java
index c735af63dc..9ba1410345 100644
--- a/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/FileTemplateSaver.java
+++ b/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/FileTemplateSaver.java
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
-import javax.swing.JDialog;
+import javax.swing.JFrame;
 import javax.swing.JLabel;
 import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
 import javax.swing.SwingConstants;
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ public class FileTemplateSaver  {
 
     private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(FileTemplateSaver.class);
 
-    public void save(String templateText, File dest, JDialog view) {
+    public void save(String templateText, File dest, JFrame view) {
         try {
             Files.write(dest.toPath(), templateText.getBytes());
         } catch (IOException e) {
diff --git a/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/PreviewGenerationAction.java b/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/PreviewGenerationAction.java
index 7be3de7aa2..26ccdaf280 100644
--- a/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/PreviewGenerationAction.java
+++ b/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/PreviewGenerationAction.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import org.apache.velocity.runtime.RuntimeConstants;
 import org.apache.velocity.runtime.resource.loader.StringResourceLoader;
 
+import java.io.StringWriter;
 import java.io.Writer;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@
  */
 public class PreviewGenerationAction extends ClassGenerationAction {
 
-    private Writer writer;
+    private StringWriter writer;
 
     public PreviewGenerationAction(CgenConfiguration cgenConfig) {
         super(cgenConfig);
@@ -45,12 +46,14 @@ protected void validateAttributes() {
         //Mock
     }
 
-    public void setWriter(Writer writer) {
+    public void setWriter(StringWriter writer) {
         this.writer = writer;
     }
 
     @Override
     protected Writer openWriter(TemplateType templateType) {
+        // clear and return
+        writer.getBuffer().setLength(0);
         return writer;
     }
 
diff --git a/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/TemplateEditorController.java b/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/TemplateEditorController.java
index ade5f1340a..ea6408b3e0 100644
--- a/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/TemplateEditorController.java
+++ b/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/TemplateEditorController.java
@@ -73,12 +73,8 @@ public TemplateEditorController(TemplatePreferences preferences) {
     }
 
     public void startupAction() {
-        this.view.setModal(true);
         this.view.getEditingTemplatePane().setText(loadSelectedTemplateText());
         this.view.editingTemplatePane.setCaretPosition(0);
-        this.view.pack();
-        makeCloseableOnEscape();
-        centerView();
         this.view.setVisible(true);
     }
 
diff --git a/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/TemplateEditorView.java b/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/TemplateEditorView.java
index a167cfd8f7..ed52629be7 100644
--- a/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/TemplateEditorView.java
+++ b/modeler/cayenne-modeler/src/main/java/org/apache/cayenne/modeler/dialog/templateeditor/TemplateEditorView.java
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
 import javax.swing.JButton;
 import javax.swing.JComboBox;
-import javax.swing.JDialog;
+import javax.swing.JFrame;
 import javax.swing.JPanel;
 import javax.swing.JSplitPane;
 import javax.swing.JToolBar;
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
 /**
  * since 4.3
  */
-public class TemplateEditorView extends JDialog {
+public class TemplateEditorView extends JFrame {
 
     protected RSyntaxTextArea editingTemplatePane;
     protected RSyntaxTextArea classPreviewPane;
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public class TemplateEditorView extends JDialog {
     static final String VELOCITY_KEY = "text/velocity";
 
 
-    public TemplateEditorView( List<String> entityNames) {
+    public TemplateEditorView(List<String> entityNames) {
         this.setTitle("Template editor");
         this.editingTemplatePane = new TextEditorPane();
         this.classPreviewPane = new RSyntaxTextArea();