diff --git a/salt/manager/tools/sbin_jinja/so-yara-update b/salt/manager/tools/sbin_jinja/so-yara-update
index ae2a0d97c..2cb59056c 100755
--- a/salt/manager/tools/sbin_jinja/so-yara-update
+++ b/salt/manager/tools/sbin_jinja/so-yara-update
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ SORULEDIR=/nsm/rules/yara
 OUTPUTDIR=/opt/so/saltstack/local/salt/strelka/rules
 
 mkdir -p $OUTPUTDIR
+# remove all rules prior to copy so we can clear out old rules
+rm -f $OUTPUTDIR/*
 
 for i in $(find $SORULEDIR -name "*.yar" -o -name "*.yara"); do
   rule_name=$(echo $i | awk -F '/' '{print $NF}')