diff --git a/moduli.c b/moduli.c
index 9f660ef26..481ca2aa8 100644
--- a/moduli.c
+++ b/moduli.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* $OpenBSD: moduli.c,v 1.38 2022/05/01 23:20:30 djm Exp $ */
+/* $OpenBSD: moduli.c,v 1.39 2023/03/02 06:41:56 dtucker Exp $ */
 /*
  * Copyright 1994 Phil Karn <karn@qualcomm.com>
  * Copyright 1996-1998, 2003 William Allen Simpson <wsimpson@greendragon.com>
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ write_checkpoint(char *cpfile, u_int32_t lineno)
 {
 	FILE *fp;
 	char tmp[PATH_MAX];
-	int r;
+	int r, writeok, closeok;
 
 	r = snprintf(tmp, sizeof(tmp), "%s.XXXXXXXXXX", cpfile);
 	if (r < 0 || r >= PATH_MAX) {
@@ -469,13 +469,16 @@ write_checkpoint(char *cpfile, u_int32_t lineno)
 		close(r);
 		return;
 	}
-	if (fprintf(fp, "%lu\n", (unsigned long)lineno) > 0 && fclose(fp) == 0
-	    && rename(tmp, cpfile) == 0)
+	writeok = (fprintf(fp, "%lu\n", (unsigned long)lineno) > 0);
+	closeok = (fclose(fp) == 0);
+	if (writeok && closeok && rename(tmp, cpfile) == 0) {
 		debug3("wrote checkpoint line %lu to '%s'",
 		    (unsigned long)lineno, cpfile);
-	else
+	} else {
 		logit("failed to write to checkpoint file '%s': %s", cpfile,
 		    strerror(errno));
+		(void)unlink(tmp);
+	}
 }
 
 static unsigned long