diff --git a/aosp-merger/_merge_helper.sh b/aosp-merger/_merge_helper.sh
index a2d1102..b82fb9a 100755
--- a/aosp-merger/_merge_helper.sh
+++ b/aosp-merger/_merge_helper.sh
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ BRANCH="${lineageos_branch}"
 STAGINGBRANCH="staging/${BRANCHSUFFIX}"
 
 cd "${TOP}/${PROJECTPATH}"
+# Ditch any existing staging branches
+repo abandon "${STAGINGBRANCH}" .
 repo start "${STAGINGBRANCH}" .
 if [ -f ".gitupstream" ]; then
     git fetch -q --force --tags "$(cat .gitupstream)" "${NEWTAG}"
diff --git a/aosp-merger/merge-aosp-forks.sh b/aosp-merger/merge-aosp-forks.sh
index 745f703..3b84448 100755
--- a/aosp-merger/merge-aosp-forks.sh
+++ b/aosp-merger/merge-aosp-forks.sh
@@ -76,9 +76,6 @@ for PROJECTPATH in ${PROJECTPATHS} .repo/manifests; do
 done
 echo "#### Verification complete - no uncommitted changes found ####"
 
-# Ditch any existing staging branches (across all projects)
-repo abandon "${STAGINGBRANCH}"
-
 # Iterate over each forked project
 for PROJECTPATH in ${PROJECTPATHS}; do
     "${script_path}"/_merge_helper.sh --project-path "${PROJECTPATH}" --operation "${OPERATION}" --old-tag "${OLDTAG}" --new-tag "${NEWTAG}" --branch-suffix "${BRANCHSUFFIX}"
diff --git a/aosp-merger/merge-aosp.sh b/aosp-merger/merge-aosp.sh
index fd403e6..8657f5e 100755
--- a/aosp-merger/merge-aosp.sh
+++ b/aosp-merger/merge-aosp.sh
@@ -72,9 +72,6 @@ for PROJECTPATH in ${PROJECTPATHS} .repo/manifests; do
 done
 echo "#### Verification complete - no uncommitted changes found ####"
 
-# Ditch any existing staging branches (across all projects)
-repo abandon "${STAGINGBRANCH}"
-
 # Iterate over each forked project
 for PROJECTPATH in ${PROJECTPATHS}; do
     "${script_path}"/_merge_helper.sh --project-path "${PROJECTPATH}" --operation "${OPERATION}" --old-tag "${OLDTAG}" --new-tag "${NEWTAG}" --branch-suffix "${BRANCHSUFFIX}"