diff --git a/roles/use-cached-repos/tasks/main.yaml b/roles/use-cached-repos/tasks/main.yaml
index 55ceff0d07..4456db7093 100644
--- a/roles/use-cached-repos/tasks/main.yaml
+++ b/roles/use-cached-repos/tasks/main.yaml
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@
     - skip_ansible_lint
 
 - name: Remove origin from local git repos
-  command: "git remote rm origin"
+  # To be idempotent, remove origin only if it's found in the local list.
+  shell: "git remote -v | grep origin && git remote rm origin || true"
   args:
     chdir: "{{ ansible_user_dir }}/{{ item.src_dir}}"
   with_items: "{{ zuul.projects.values() | list }}"