diff --git a/whm/gniza-whm/lib/GnizaWHM/UI.pm b/whm/gniza-whm/lib/GnizaWHM/UI.pm
index 72ffe1f..bd4d6dc 100644
--- a/whm/gniza-whm/lib/GnizaWHM/UI.pm
+++ b/whm/gniza-whm/lib/GnizaWHM/UI.pm
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ sub render_flash {
 
 sub _ensure_dir {
     my ($dir) = @_;
+    # Remove stale plain file left by older versions (upgrade path)
+    unlink $dir if -e $dir && ! -d $dir;
     unless (-d $dir) {
         mkdir $dir, 0700;
     }