diff --git a/src/xfel_calibrate/finalize.py b/src/xfel_calibrate/finalize.py
index 8da388037643a3a5617c7b61ba4322fd88c6d7a3..c9c44a57ae3f703bcf12fd3ca336a841f966c094 100644
--- a/src/xfel_calibrate/finalize.py
+++ b/src/xfel_calibrate/finalize.py
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ def natural_keys(text):
 
 def combine_report(run_path, calibration):
     sphinx_path = "{}/sphinx_rep".format(path.abspath(run_path))
+    # if the finalize job was preempted or requeued,
+    # while building the report.
+    if isdir(sphinx_path):
+        rmtree(sphinx_path)
     makedirs(sphinx_path)
     direntries = listdir(run_path)
     direntries.sort(key=natural_keys)