diff --git a/deb-get b/deb-get
index 60a0c9c74..26cd69432 100755
--- a/deb-get
+++ b/deb-get
@@ -669,7 +669,7 @@ function update_repos() {
         # export REPO ETC_DIR ELEVATE  # no longer needed, `| bash -` replaced with `eval`
         fancy_message info "Updating ${ETC_DIR}/${REPO}"
         REPO_URL="$(head -n 1 "${ETC_DIR}/${REPO}.repo")"
-        ${ELEVATE} wget ${WGET_VERBOSITY} ${WGET_TIMEOUT} "${REPO_URL}/manifest" -O "${ETC_DIR}/${REPO}.repo"
+        ${ELEVATE} wget ${WGET_VERBOSITY} ${WGET_TIMEOUT} "${REPO_URL}/manifest" -O "${ETC_DIR}/${REPO}.repo.tmp" && ${ELEVATE} mv "${ETC_DIR}/${REPO}.repo.tmp" "${ETC_DIR}/${REPO}.repo"
 
         # ${ELEVATE} rm "${ETC_DIR}/${REPO}.d/* # we currently leave old litter : either <- this or maybe rm older ones
         # although so long as manifest is good we are OK