diff --git a/make-distribution.sh b/make-distribution.sh
index 661d1ff5e54c9d8ab4096d6922bea6903fdad901..4ac80efae0ab26c1ada00b24aed5113483c90ef0 100755
--- a/make-distribution.sh
+++ b/make-distribution.sh
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ fi
 if [ "$MAKE_TGZ" == "true" ]; then
   TARDIR_NAME=spark-$VERSION-bin-$NAME
   TARDIR="$FWDIR/$TARDIR_NAME"
+  rm -rf "$TARDIR"
   cp -r "$DISTDIR" "$TARDIR"
   tar czf "spark-$VERSION-bin-$NAME.tgz" -C "$FWDIR" "$TARDIR_NAME"
   rm -rf "$TARDIR"