diff --git a/Tools/mkdist.py b/Tools/mkdist.py
index 604cf5652..ac33c6014 100755
--- a/Tools/mkdist.py
+++ b/Tools/mkdist.py
@@ -19,10 +19,13 @@ if string.lower(dirname) != dirname:
   print "directory name ("+dirname+") should be in lowercase"
   sys.exit(0)
 
-# If directory exists, remove it
+# If directory and tarball exist, remove it
 print "Removing ", dirname
 os.system("rm -rf "+dirname)
 
+print "Removing old tarball "+dirname+".tar.gz if exists"
+os.system("rm -f "+dirname+".tar.gz")
+
 # Do a CVS export on the directory name
 
 print "Checking out SWIG"