diff --git a/pmd/etc/generate_release.sh b/pmd/etc/generate_release.sh
index 270d222e53..8e2f0f17f1 100644
--- a/pmd/etc/generate_release.sh
+++ b/pmd/etc/generate_release.sh
@@ -87,8 +87,6 @@ fi
 
 echo "generating binary file ${pmd_top_dir}/pmd-bin-${version}.zip"
 
-rm -rf "${pmd_bin_dir}"
-rm -f "${pmd_top_dir}/pmd-bin-${version}.zip"
 mkdir -p "${pmd_bin_dir}/etc"
 mkdir "${pmd_bin_dir}/bin"
 mkdir "${pmd_bin_dir}/lib"