diff --git a/test/smoke/src/main.ts b/test/smoke/src/main.ts
index 0b9336e8d98..2b8fe48e500 100644
--- a/test/smoke/src/main.ts
+++ b/test/smoke/src/main.ts
@@ -280,8 +280,9 @@ async function ensureStableCode(): Promise<void> {
 
 		let lastProgressMessage: string | undefined = undefined;
 		let lastProgressReportedAt = 0;
-		const stableCodeExecutable = await measureAndLog(vscodetest.download({
-			cachePath: path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'vscode-test'),
+		const stableCodeDestination = path.join(testDataPath, 's');
+		const stableCodeExecutable = await retry(() => measureAndLog(vscodetest.download({
+			cachePath: stableCodeDestination,
 			version: previousVersion.version,
 			extractSync: true,
 			reporter: {
@@ -301,7 +302,15 @@ async function ensureStableCode(): Promise<void> {
 				},
 				error: error => logger.log(`download stable code error: ${error}`)
 			}
-		}), 'download stable code', logger);
+		}), 'download stable code', logger), 1000, 3, () => new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+			rimraf(stableCodeDestination, { maxBusyTries: 10 }, error => {
+				if (error) {
+					reject(error);
+				} else {
+					resolve();
+				}
+			});
+		}));
 
 		if (process.platform === 'darwin') {
 			// Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/MacOS/Electron
diff --git a/test/smoke/src/utils.ts b/test/smoke/src/utils.ts
index d8114603aac..7f16a1ed38c 100644
--- a/test/smoke/src/utils.ts
+++ b/test/smoke/src/utils.ts
@@ -141,11 +141,19 @@ export interface ITask<T> {
 	(): T;
 }
 
-export async function retry<T>(task: ITask<Promise<T>>, delay: number, retries: number): Promise<T> {
+export async function retry<T>(task: ITask<Promise<T>>, delay: number, retries: number, onBeforeRetry?: () => Promise<unknown>): Promise<T> {
 	let lastError: Error | undefined;
 
 	for (let i = 0; i < retries; i++) {
 		try {
+			if (i > 0 && typeof onBeforeRetry === 'function') {
+				try {
+					await onBeforeRetry();
+				} catch (error) {
+					console.warn(`onBeforeRetry failed with: ${error}`);
+				}
+			}
+
 			return await task();
 		} catch (error) {
 			lastError = error;