diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
index 200ef36af39..aee4ff19fef 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
@@ -626,6 +626,8 @@ function append_or_replace_prefixed_line {
 function write-pki-data {
   local data="${1}"
   local path="${2}"
+  # remove the path if it exists
+  rm -f "${path}"
   if [[ -n "${KUBE_PKI_READERS_GROUP:-}" ]]; then
     (umask 027; echo "${data}" | base64 --decode > "${path}")
     chgrp "${KUBE_PKI_READERS_GROUP:-}" "${path}"