diff --git a/ts/smartnginx.classes.smartnginx.ts b/ts/smartnginx.classes.smartnginx.ts
index 7a317db..afdfe93 100644
--- a/ts/smartnginx.classes.smartnginx.ts
+++ b/ts/smartnginx.classes.smartnginx.ts
@@ -119,11 +119,11 @@ export class SmartNginx {
 
       // write standard self signed certificate
       const selfsignedCert = plugins.selfsigned.generate([{ name: 'commonName', value: 'selfsigned.git.zone' }], { days: 365});
+      
+      // deploy hosts
+      plugins.smartfile.fs.ensureDirSync(paths.nginxHostDirPath);
       plugins.smartfile.memory.toFsSync(selfsignedCert.private, plugins.path.join(paths.nginxHostDirPath, './default.private.pem'));
       plugins.smartfile.memory.toFsSync(selfsignedCert.public, plugins.path.join(paths.nginxHostDirPath, './default.public.pem'));
-
-      // deploy hosts
-      plugins.smartfile.fs.ensureEmptyDirSync(paths.nginxHostDirPath);
       for (const host of this.deployedHosts.getArray()) {
         await host.deploy();
         this.logger.log('info', `Host ${host.hostName} deployed!`);