diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/singularity-tools/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/singularity-tools/default.nix
index 2a67169628795..f85e9745d7824 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/singularity-tools/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/singularity-tools/default.nix
@@ -99,7 +99,6 @@ lib.makeExtensible (final: {
             inherit memSize;
           }
           ''
-            rmdir "$out"
             mkdir workspace
             mkfs -t ext3 -b 4096 /dev/${vmTools.hd}
             mount /dev/${vmTools.hd} workspace