diff --git a/py/image.py b/py/image.py
index 5ba74fc..5625917 100644
--- a/py/image.py
+++ b/py/image.py
@@ -822,9 +822,10 @@ def remove(self, rem_mode, images, image_output, save_prefix, torchscript_jit=Fa
     if rem_mode == "RMBG-2.0":
       repo_id = REMBG_MODELS[rem_mode]['model_url']
       model_path = os.path.join(REMBG_DIR, 'RMBG-2.0')
-      from huggingface_hub import snapshot_download
+      if not os.path.exists(model_path):
+        from huggingface_hub import snapshot_download
+        snapshot_download(repo_id=repo_id, local_dir=model_path, ignore_patterns=["*.md", "*.txt"])
       from transformers import AutoModelForImageSegmentation
-      snapshot_download(repo_id=repo_id, local_dir=model_path, ignore_patterns=["*.md", "*.txt"])
       model = AutoModelForImageSegmentation.from_pretrained(model_path, trust_remote_code=True)
       torch.set_float32_matmul_precision('high')
       device = torch.device("cuda" if torch.cuda.is_available() else "cpu")