diff --git a/helper/gpu-setup b/helper/gpu-setup
index e06d5b11..a0413fb3 100755
--- a/helper/gpu-setup
+++ b/helper/gpu-setup
@@ -274,7 +274,6 @@ job_release() {
             test_pid="$(cat $d/pid 2>/dev/null)"
             if [ "$pid" = "$test_pid" ]; then
                 echo "XXX $$ job_release $pid: found my pid in $d, releasing" >&2
-                rm $d/pid
                 for f in $(cat $d/access-files); do
                     case $f in
                         /dev/nvidia-caps/nvidia-cap*)
@@ -287,6 +286,7 @@ job_release() {
                             ;;
                     esac
                 done
+                rm $d/pid
                 exit 0
             fi
         fi