diff --git a/lib/publish-gh-pages.js b/lib/publish-gh-pages.js
index 78a3789c6b..0d5cd093ff 100755
--- a/lib/publish-gh-pages.js
+++ b/lib/publish-gh-pages.js
@@ -56,17 +56,23 @@ if (
 
 shell.cd(`${CIRCLE_PROJECT_REPONAME}-gh-pages`);
 
-if (
-  shell.exec("git checkout origin/gh-pages").code +
+if (shell.exec("git checkout origin/gh-pages").code !== 0) {
+  if (shell.exec("git checkout --orphan gh-pages").code !== 0) {
+    shell.echo("Error: Git checkout gh-pages failed");
+    shell.exit(1);
+  }
+} else {
+  if (
     shell.exec("git checkout -b gh-pages").code +
-    shell.exec("git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/gh-pages").code !==
-  0
-) {
-  shell.echo("Error: Git checkout gh-pages failed");
-  shell.exit(1);
+      shell.exec("git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/gh-pages").code !==
+    0
+  ) {
+    shell.echo("Error: Git checkout gh-pages failed");
+    shell.exit(1);
+  }
 }
 
-shell.exec("rm -rf *");
+shell.exec("git rm -rf .");
 
 shell.cd("../..");