diff --git a/publish.py b/publish.py
index 6245f1d88..7734c2203 100755
--- a/publish.py
+++ b/publish.py
@@ -285,7 +285,6 @@ class GitHub(Base):  # {{{
         upload_url = release['upload_url'].partition('{')[0]
         asset_url = f'{self.url_base}/assets/{{}}'
         existing_assets = self.existing_assets(release['id'])
-        original_existing_assets = existing_assets.copy()
 
         def delete_asset(asset_id: str) -> None:
             r = self.requests.delete(asset_url.format(asset_id))
@@ -318,9 +317,13 @@ class GitHub(Base):  # {{{
                     try:
                         asset_id = r.json()['id']
                     except Exception:
-                        asset_id = original_existing_assets[fname]
-                    self.info(f'Deleting {fname} from GitHub with id: {asset_id}')
-                    delete_asset(asset_id)
+                        try:
+                            asset_id = self.existing_assets(release['id'])[fname]
+                        except KeyError:
+                            asset_id = 0
+                    if asset_id:
+                        self.info(f'Deleting {fname} from GitHub with id: {asset_id}')
+                        delete_asset(asset_id)
                 time.sleep(sleep_time)
 
         if self.is_nightly: