diff --git a/sw/builders/services.nix b/sw/builders/services.nix
index e04799f..8517e65 100644
--- a/sw/builders/services.nix
+++ b/sw/builders/services.nix
@@ -35,8 +35,46 @@ mkIf builderCfg.githubRunner.enable {
       # Restart on failure, but not immediately
       RestartSec = 10;
     };
+    # Override the ExecStartPre to not fail if cleanup has issues
+    # The '-' prefix means the command failure won't cause the service to fail
+    path = mkForce (
+      let
+        originalPath = config.systemd.services."github-runner-${builderCfg.githubRunner.name}".path;
+      in
+      originalPath
+    );
   };
 
+  # Override the unconfigure script to be failure-tolerant
+  systemd.services."github-runner-${builderCfg.githubRunner.name}".serviceConfig.ExecStartPre = mkForce [
+    (
+      let
+        unconfigureScript = pkgs.writeShellScript "github-runner-${builderCfg.githubRunner.name}-unconfigure.sh" ''
+          set +e  # Don't exit on error
+          
+          runnerDir="${builderCfg.githubRunner.workDir}/${builderCfg.githubRunner.name}"
+          
+          # Try to remove the runner registration if it exists
+          if [ -e "$runnerDir" ]; then
+            echo "Cleaning up runner directory: $runnerDir"
+            
+            # Try to remove contents, but don't fail if busy
+            find "$runnerDir" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null || true
+            
+            # If directory still has content but we couldn't delete it, just warn
+            if [ "$(ls -A $runnerDir 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
+              echo "Warning: Could not fully clean $runnerDir (may be in use)"
+              echo "This is normal on first deployment or if runner is already running"
+            fi
+          fi
+          
+          exit 0  # Always succeed
+        '';
+      in
+      "-${unconfigureScript} ${builderCfg.githubRunner.workDir}/${builderCfg.githubRunner.name} ${builderCfg.githubRunner.workDir} /var/log/github-runner/${builderCfg.githubRunner.name}"
+    )
+  ];
+
   # Ensure the work directory exists with proper ownership
   systemd.tmpfiles.rules = [
     "d ${builderCfg.githubRunner.workDir} 0755 ${builderCfg.githubRunner.user} ${builderCfg.githubRunner.user} -"