diff --git a/validate_workflow.sh b/validate_workflow.sh
index c7fb3f13d2c95459b534f80be07f387d871ca9bc..bd1bd83ef6c8ef89d6d7ea8f36ba1ca80f529eec 100755
--- a/validate_workflow.sh
+++ b/validate_workflow.sh
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ if [ "$WITH_PIPE" -eq 1 ]; then
     #cli mode, use stdin
     debug "checking stream"
     filename=$(mktemp --tmpdir validate_wrg.XXXX)
-    cat - > "$filename"
+    cat - > "$filename" || rm -f "${filename}"
     scan_file "$filename"
     rm -f "$filename" || error "could not remove temporary file '$filename'"
 else