diff --git a/platform-sdk/swirlds-platform-core/src/main/java/com/swirlds/platform/event/preconsensus/PreconsensusEventFileManager.java b/platform-sdk/swirlds-platform-core/src/main/java/com/swirlds/platform/event/preconsensus/PreconsensusEventFileManager.java
index ac36ab110c25..e9ce0ce0b48a 100644
--- a/platform-sdk/swirlds-platform-core/src/main/java/com/swirlds/platform/event/preconsensus/PreconsensusEventFileManager.java
+++ b/platform-sdk/swirlds-platform-core/src/main/java/com/swirlds/platform/event/preconsensus/PreconsensusEventFileManager.java
@@ -673,7 +673,10 @@ public static void clear(
             @NonNull final RecycleBin recycleBin,
             @NonNull final NodeId selfId) {
         try {
-            recycleBin.recycle(getDatabaseDirectory(platformContext, selfId));
+            final Path path = getDatabaseDirectory(platformContext, selfId);
+            if (Files.exists(path)) {
+                recycleBin.recycle(path);
+            }
         } catch (final IOException e) {
             throw new UncheckedIOException("unable to recycle preconsensus event files", e);
         }