diff --git a/recipes/recipe_modules/gsutil/resources/gsutil_smart_retry.py b/recipes/recipe_modules/gsutil/resources/gsutil_smart_retry.py
index c56c269924..16d6c1f796 100755
--- a/recipes/recipe_modules/gsutil/resources/gsutil_smart_retry.py
+++ b/recipes/recipe_modules/gsutil/resources/gsutil_smart_retry.py
@@ -51,10 +51,10 @@ def main(argv):
           ' '.join(cmd), retcode, hard+1, soft+1))
 
     # Failed at least once, try deleting the tracker files
+    logging.warning('Trying harder: deleting tracker files')
+    gsutil_dir = os.path.expanduser('~/.gsutil')
+    logging.info('Removing %s' % gsutil_dir)
     try:
-      logging.warning('Trying harder: deleting tracker files')
-      gsutil_dir = os.path.expanduser('~/.gsutil')
-      logging.info('Removing %s' % gsutil_dir)
       shutil.rmtree(gsutil_dir)
     except BaseException as e:
       logging.warning('Deleting tracker files failed: %s' % e)