diff --git a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_build.py b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_build.py
index aa7f2721..24736609 100755
--- a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_build.py
+++ b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_build.py
@@ -100,10 +100,6 @@ class OstbuildBuild(builtins.Builtin):
         buildname = buildutil.manifest_buildname(self.manifest, meta)
         buildroot_name = buildutil.manifest_buildroot_name(self.manifest, meta)
 
-        checkoutdir = os.path.join(self.workdir, 'src')
-        component_src = os.path.join(checkoutdir, name)
-        run_sync(['ostbuild', 'checkout', '--overwrite', '--manifest=' + self.manifest_path, name], cwd=checkoutdir)
-
         current_vcs_version = meta['revision']
 
         previous_build_version = run_sync_get_output(['ostree', '--repo=' + self.repo,
@@ -132,6 +128,10 @@ class OstbuildBuild(builtins.Builtin):
         else:
             log("No previous build for '%s' found" % (buildname, ))
 
+        checkoutdir = os.path.join(self.workdir, 'src')
+        component_src = os.path.join(checkoutdir, name)
+        run_sync(['ostbuild', 'checkout', '--overwrite', '--manifest=' + self.manifest_path, name], cwd=checkoutdir)
+
         artifact_meta = dict(meta)
 
         metadata_path = os.path.join(component_src, '_ostbuild-meta.json')