diff --git a/lib/bb/fetch2/git.py b/lib/bb/fetch2/git.py
index 30da8e95..ed6ecb64 100644
--- a/lib/bb/fetch2/git.py
+++ b/lib/bb/fetch2/git.py
@@ -356,8 +356,15 @@ class Git(FetchMethod):
 
         repourl = self._get_repo_url(ud)
 
-        # If the repo still doesn't exist, fallback to cloning it
-        if not os.path.exists(ud.clonedir):
+        # Clean repo if git dir is different than ud.clonedir, which means tar unpacking failed
+        if os.path.exists(ud.clonedir):
+            if ud.clonedir != runfetchcmd("%s -C %s rev-parse --git-dir" % (ud.basecmd, ud.clonedir), d):
+                bb.utils.remove(ud.clonedir, recurse=True)
+                bb.utils.mkdirhier(ud.clonedir)
+                os.chdir(ud.clonedir)
+
+        # If the repo still doesn't exist or is empty, fallback to cloning it
+        if not os.path.exists(ud.clonedir) or not os.listdir(ud.clonedir):
             # We do this since git will use a "-l" option automatically for local urls where possible
             if repourl.startswith("file://"):
                 repourl = repourl[7:]