diff --git a/secrets b/secrets
index e3364ba..8e440bd 100755
--- a/secrets
+++ b/secrets
@@ -90,12 +90,12 @@ rm "$0"
 echo "!*data" >&2
 
 read basedir
-if test -d "$basedir"; then
-    rm -rf "$basedir"
+if test ! -d "$basedir"; then
+    mkdir "$basedir"
+    chown root:root "$basedir"
+    chmod 755 "$basedir"
 fi
-mkdir -p "$basedir"
-chown root:root "$basedir"
-chmod 755 "$basedir"
+rm -rf "$basedir"/*
 
 while read name; do
     fullpath="$basedir/$name"