diff --git a/runtests.py b/runtests.py
index 8bd7a7614..e27f67aa8 100755
--- a/runtests.py
+++ b/runtests.py
@@ -52,8 +52,10 @@ if not settings.configured:
 
 def runtests():
     argv = sys.argv[:1] + ['test'] + sys.argv[1:]
-    execute_from_command_line(argv)
-    shutil.rmtree(STATIC_ROOT, ignore_errors=True)
+    try:
+        execute_from_command_line(argv)
+    finally:
+        shutil.rmtree(STATIC_ROOT, ignore_errors=True)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':