diff --git a/server/lib/nl/common/bad_words.py b/server/lib/nl/common/bad_words.py
index 3d726396c4..df6d71e520 100644
--- a/server/lib/nl/common/bad_words.py
+++ b/server/lib/nl/common/bad_words.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 from server.lib.config import GLOBAL_CONFIG_BUCKET
 from shared.lib import gcs
 
-BAD_WORDS_FILE = 'nl_bad_words.txt'
+BAD_WORDS_PATH = gcs.make_path(GLOBAL_CONFIG_BUCKET, 'nl_bad_words.txt')
 _DELIM = ':'
 
 
@@ -74,8 +74,7 @@ class BannedWords:
 # Loads a list of bad words from a text file.
 #
 def load_bad_words() -> BannedWords:
-  local_file = gcs.maybe_download(
-      f'gs://{GLOBAL_CONFIG_BUCKET}/{BAD_WORDS_FILE}')
+  local_file = gcs.maybe_download(BAD_WORDS_PATH)
   return load_bad_words_file(local_file)
 
 
@@ -133,8 +132,7 @@ def load_bad_words_file(local_file: str, validate: bool = False) -> BannedWords:
 
 
 def validate_bad_words():
-  local_file = gcs.maybe_download(
-      f'gs://{GLOBAL_CONFIG_BUCKET}/{BAD_WORDS_FILE}')
+  local_file = gcs.maybe_download(BAD_WORDS_PATH)
   load_bad_words_file(local_file, validate=True)
 
 
diff --git a/shared/lib/gcs.py b/shared/lib/gcs.py
index 8d7a5abae2..4c537de6bc 100644
--- a/shared/lib/gcs.py
+++ b/shared/lib/gcs.py
@@ -33,12 +33,16 @@ def get_path_parts(gcs_path: str) -> Tuple[str, str]:
   return tuple(gcs_path.removeprefix(GCS_PATH_PREFIX).split('/', 1))
 
 
+def make_path(bucket_name: str, blob_name: str) -> str:
+  return GCS_PATH_PREFIX + bucket_name + '/' + blob_name
+
+
 def download_blob(bucket_name: str,
                   blob_name: str,
                   local_path: str,
                   use_anonymous_client: bool = False) -> bool:
   """
-    Downloads the content of a GCS folder to a local folder.
+    Downloads the content of a GCS blob to a local path.
 
     Args:
     - bucket_name: The name of the GCS bucket.
@@ -55,6 +59,7 @@ def download_blob(bucket_name: str,
   blobs = bucket.list_blobs(prefix=blob_name)
   count = 0
   for blob in blobs:
+    # When a blob name ends with "/", the blob is a folder. No need to download.
     if blob.name.endswith("/"):
       continue
     # Get the relative path to the input blob. This is used to download folder.
@@ -115,8 +120,11 @@ def maybe_download(gcs_path: str,
     raise ValueError(f"Invalid GCS path: {gcs_path}")
   bucket_name, blob_name = get_path_parts(gcs_path)
   local_path = os.path.join(local_path_root, bucket_name, blob_name)
-  if os.path.exists(local_path):
+  if os.path.exists(local_path) and len(os.listdir(local_path)) > 0:
+    # When running locally, we may already have downloaded the path.
+    # But sometimes after restart, the directories in `/tmp` become empty,
+    # so ensure that's not the case. return local_path
     return local_path
-  if download_blob_by_path(gcs_path, local_path, use_anonymous_client):
+  if download_blob(bucket_name, blob_name, local_path, use_anonymous_client):
     return local_path
   return None
diff --git a/shared/lib/gcs_test.py b/shared/lib/gcs_test.py
index 95ee8f7287..6e9c701ecd 100644
--- a/shared/lib/gcs_test.py
+++ b/shared/lib/gcs_test.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 
 
 class TestGCSFunctions(unittest.TestCase):
+  # All the test files are prepared in this bucket.
   bucket_name = 'datcom-ci-test'
 
   @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
@@ -55,11 +56,18 @@ def test_get_path_parts_invalid_path(self):
       ['a.txt', 'folder2/a.txt', 'a'],
   ])
   def test_download_file(self, local_file_path, blob_name, content):
+    """
+    Download a file from GCS to a local path. Here the blob_name is a file name.
+    """
     f = self.tmp_path / local_file_path
     gcs.download_blob(self.bucket_name, blob_name, f)
     self.assertEqual(f.read_text(), content)
 
   def test_download_folder(self):
+    """
+    Test downloading a folder from GCS to a local path. And check all the nested
+    files exist.
+    """
     gcs_folder = 'folder1'
     gcs.download_blob(self.bucket_name, gcs_folder, self.tmp_path)
     p = Path(self.tmp_path)
@@ -72,6 +80,8 @@ def test_download_folder(self):
       [f'gs://{bucket_name}/folder1/folder11/d.txt', 'tmp.txt', 'd'],
   ])
   def test_download_blob_by_path(self, gcs_path, local_file_path, content):
+    """Download a file based on GCS path.
+    """
     f = self.tmp_path / local_file_path
     gcs.download_blob_by_path(gcs_path, f)
     self.assertEqual(f.read_text(), content)