diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/tests_picks.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/tests_picks.rs
index 58ba8d2e0..3aa8f21b3 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/tests_picks.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/tests_picks.rs
@@ -229,7 +229,9 @@ fn variables_panel_data_sets_ask_off_the_ui_thread() {
     let (mut app, shown, _) = app();
     app.run("file.new", json!({"width": 100, "height": 80})).unwrap();
     let dir = vectorcraft_testkit::temp_dir("picks-data-sets");
-    let _ = std::fs::remove_dir_all(&dir);
+    if let Err(e) = std::fs::remove_dir_all(&dir) {
+        assert_eq!(e.kind(), std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound, "cannot empty {}: {e}", dir.display());
+    }
     std::fs::create_dir_all(&dir).unwrap();
     let (csv, out) = (dir.join("sets.csv"), dir.join("out.csv"));
     std::fs::write(&csv, "name,Name\nB,y\n").unwrap();