diff --git a/bin/handlebars b/bin/handlebars
index 61886dac..1e46a35f 100755
--- a/bin/handlebars
+++ b/bin/handlebars
@@ -168,8 +168,10 @@ function processTemplate(template, root) {
     if (argv.simple) {
       output.push(handlebars.precompile(data, options) + '\n');
     } else if (argv.partial) {
+      if(argv.amd && argv._.length == 1){ output.push('return '); }
       output.push('Handlebars.partials[\'' + template + '\'] = template(' + handlebars.precompile(data, options) + ');\n');
     } else {
+      if(argv.amd && argv._.length == 1){ output.push('return '); }
       output.push('templates[\'' + template + '\'] = template(' + handlebars.precompile(data, options) + ');\n');
     }
   }