diff --git a/appimage/build.sh b/appimage/build.sh
index 63eaa2b2..1c74722e 100755
--- a/appimage/build.sh
+++ b/appimage/build.sh
@@ -13,6 +13,14 @@ fi
 
 BUILD_DIR=$(mktemp -d -p "$TEMP_BASE" AppImageLauncher-build-XXXXXX)
 
+# make sure to clean up build dir, even if errors occur
+cleanup () {
+    if [ -d "$BUILD_DIR" ]; then
+        rm -rf "$BUILD_DIR"
+    fi
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
 # store repo root as variable
 REPO_ROOT=$(readlink -f $(dirname $(dirname $0)))
 OLD_CWD=$(readlink -f .)
@@ -47,5 +55,3 @@ chmod +x appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage
 ./appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage conky*.AppImage --sign
 
 mv conky*.AppImage "$OLD_CWD"
-
-popd