diff --git a/adb/file_sync_service.c b/adb/file_sync_service.c
index 25bfdc983..1d80d26ac 100644
--- a/adb/file_sync_service.c
+++ b/adb/file_sync_service.c
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ static int fail_errno(int s)
 }
 
 static int handle_send_file(int s, char *path, uid_t uid,
-        gid_t gid, mode_t mode, char *buffer)
+        gid_t gid, mode_t mode, char *buffer, bool do_unlink)
 {
     syncmsg msg;
     unsigned int timestamp = 0;
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ static int handle_send_file(int s, char *path, uid_t uid,
         if(writex(fd, buffer, len)) {
             int saved_errno = errno;
             adb_close(fd);
-            adb_unlink(path);
+            if (do_unlink) adb_unlink(path);
             fd = -1;
             errno = saved_errno;
             if(fail_errno(s)) return -1;
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ static int handle_send_file(int s, char *path, uid_t uid,
 fail:
     if(fd >= 0)
         adb_close(fd);
-    adb_unlink(path);
+    if (do_unlink) adb_unlink(path);
     return -1;
 }
 
@@ -323,6 +323,7 @@ static int do_send(int s, char *path, char *buffer)
     char *tmp;
     unsigned int mode;
     int is_link, ret;
+    bool do_unlink;
 
     tmp = strrchr(path,',');
     if(tmp) {
@@ -339,10 +340,12 @@ static int do_send(int s, char *path, char *buffer)
     if(!tmp || errno) {
         mode = 0644;
         is_link = 0;
+        do_unlink = true;
     } else {
         struct stat st;
         /* Don't delete files before copying if they are not "regular" */
-        if(lstat(path, &st) || S_ISREG(st.st_mode) || S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) {
+        do_unlink = lstat(path, &st) || S_ISREG(st.st_mode) || S_ISLNK(st.st_mode);
+        if (do_unlink) {
             adb_unlink(path);
         }
     }
@@ -369,7 +372,7 @@ static int do_send(int s, char *path, char *buffer)
         if (is_on_system(path)) {
             fs_config(tmp, 0, &uid, &gid, &mode, &cap);
         }
-        ret = handle_send_file(s, path, uid, gid, mode, buffer);
+        ret = handle_send_file(s, path, uid, gid, mode, buffer, do_unlink);
     }
 
     return ret;