diff --git a/common/params.cc b/common/params.cc
index 38d96a30b0ffa5..8635f30d266145 100644
--- a/common/params.cc
+++ b/common/params.cc
@@ -273,7 +273,9 @@ int Params::put(const char* key, const char* value, size_t value_size) {
   } while (false);
 
   close(tmp_fd);
-  ::unlink(tmp_path.c_str());
+  if (result != 0) {
+    ::unlink(tmp_path.c_str());
+  }
   return result;
 }