diff --git a/laser_encoders/download_models.py b/laser_encoders/download_models.py
index 17a5db35..452501d3 100644
--- a/laser_encoders/download_models.py
+++ b/laser_encoders/download_models.py
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@
 import argparse
 import logging
 import os
+import shutil
 import sys
+import tempfile
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import requests
@@ -46,20 +48,27 @@ def __init__(self, model_dir: str = None):
 
     def download(self, filename: str):
         url = os.path.join(self.base_url, filename)
-        local_file_path = self.model_dir / filename
+        local_file_path = os.path.join(self.model_dir, filename)
 
-        if local_file_path.exists():
+        if os.path.exists(local_file_path):
             logger.info(f" - {filename} already downloaded")
         else:
             logger.info(f" - Downloading {filename}")
-            response = requests.get(url, stream=True)
-            total_size = int(response.headers.get("Content-Length", 0))
-            progress_bar = tqdm(total=total_size, unit_scale=True, unit="B")
-            with open(local_file_path, "wb") as f:
+
+            tf = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False)
+            temp_file_path = tf.name
+
+            with tf:
+                response = requests.get(url, stream=True)
+                total_size = int(response.headers.get("Content-Length", 0))
+                progress_bar = tqdm(total=total_size, unit_scale=True, unit="B")
+
                 for chunk in response.iter_content(chunk_size=1024):
-                    f.write(chunk)
+                    tf.write(chunk)
                     progress_bar.update(len(chunk))
-            progress_bar.close()
+                progress_bar.close()
+
+            shutil.move(temp_file_path, local_file_path)
 
     def get_language_code(self, language_list: dict, lang: str) -> str:
         try: