diff --git a/panda/src/downloader/extractor.cxx b/panda/src/downloader/extractor.cxx
index f6a86017c6..fe011e3e1d 100644
--- a/panda/src/downloader/extractor.cxx
+++ b/panda/src/downloader/extractor.cxx
@@ -84,7 +84,6 @@ initiate(Filename &source_file, const Filename &rel_path) {
   _total_bytes_read = 0;
   _read_all_input = false;
   _handled_all_input = false;
-  _mfile.reset();
   return ES_success;
 }
 
@@ -112,6 +111,7 @@ run(void) {
   if (_mfile.write(start, size, _rel_path) == true) {
     _read_stream.close();
     _source_file.unlink();
+    _mfile.reset();
     return ES_success;
   }
   return ES_ok;