diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index cbbe7f78e2..35854bbc07 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -2050,6 +2050,7 @@ update-stable-tag:
     - bind9-qa/releng/update_stable_tag.py --tag "$CI_COMMIT_TAG"
     # Work around https://github.com/readthedocs/readthedocs.org/issues/10838
     - sleep 300
+    - rm -rf ./bind9  # remove already cloned project
     - bind9-qa/releng/update_stable_tag.py --tag "$CI_COMMIT_TAG"
   rules:
     - *rule_tag_open_source