diff --git a/script/translations/develop.py b/script/translations/develop.py
index 9e3a2ded046..00ac7bf98ac 100644
--- a/script/translations/develop.py
+++ b/script/translations/develop.py
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import argparse
 import json
 from pathlib import Path
 import re
-from shutil import rmtree
 import sys
 
 from . import download, upload
@@ -83,9 +82,10 @@ def run_single(translations, flattened_translations, integration):
     )
 
     if download.DOWNLOAD_DIR.is_dir():
-        rmtree(str(download.DOWNLOAD_DIR))
-
-    download.DOWNLOAD_DIR.mkdir(parents=True)
+        for lang_file in download.DOWNLOAD_DIR.glob("*.json"):
+            lang_file.unlink()
+    else:
+        download.DOWNLOAD_DIR.mkdir(parents=True)
 
     (download.DOWNLOAD_DIR / "en.json").write_text(
         json.dumps({"component": {integration: translations["component"][integration]}})