diff --git a/Hi b/Hi
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1bbbabedf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Hi
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/tmp/RtmpnPKaoc/filec11448ecabfd/README.md
diff --git a/R/clean.R b/R/clean.R
index 6116f3ae8..6c4ba235d 100644
--- a/R/clean.R
+++ b/R/clean.R
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ clean_site <- function(pkg = ".", quiet = FALSE) {
 
   if (!dir_exists(pkg$dst_path)) return(invisible())
 
-  top_level <- dir_ls(pkg$dst_path)
-  top_level <- top_level[!path_file(top_level) %in% c("CNAME", "dev")]
+  check_dest_is_pkgdown(pkg)
+  top_level <- dest_files(pkg)
 
   is_dir <- is_dir(top_level)
   dir_delete(top_level[is_dir])
@@ -24,3 +24,25 @@ clean_site <- function(pkg = ".", quiet = FALSE) {
 
   invisible(TRUE)
 }
+
+check_dest_is_pkgdown <- function(pkg) {
+  if (file_exists(path(pkg$dst_path, "pkgdown.yml"))) {
+    return()
+  }
+
+  cli::cli_abort(c(
+    "{.file {pkg$dst_path}} is non-empty and not built by pkgdown",
+    "!" = "Make sure it contains no important information \\
+            and use {.run pkgdown::clean_site()} to delete its contents."
+    )
+  )
+}
+
+dest_files <- function(pkg) {
+  if (!dir_exists(pkg$dst_path)) {
+    character()
+  } else {
+    top_level <- dir_ls(pkg$dst_path)
+    top_level[!path_file(top_level) %in% c("CNAME", "dev")]  
+  }
+}
diff --git a/R/context.R b/R/context.R
index ea30307eb..a0fd58e45 100644
--- a/R/context.R
+++ b/R/context.R
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ section_init <- function(pkg,
   rstudio_save_all()
   pkg <- as_pkgdown(pkg, override = override)
   
-  if (dir_exists(pkg$dst_path)) {
-    check_dest_is_pkgdown(pkg)
+  if (length(dest_files(pkg)) > 0) {
+    check_dest_is_pkgdown(pkg) 
   } else {
     init_site(pkg)
   }
@@ -24,25 +24,6 @@ section_init <- function(pkg,
   pkg
 }
 
-check_dest_is_pkgdown <- function(pkg) {
-  top_level <- dir_ls(pkg$dst_path)
-  top_level <- top_level[!path_file(top_level) %in% c("CNAME", "dev", "deps")]
-  if (length(top_level) == 0) {
-    return(invisible())
-  }
-
-  if ("pkgdown.yml" %in% path_file(top_level)) {
-    return(invisible())
-  }
-  
-  cli::cli_abort(c(
-    "{.file {pkg$dst_path}} is non-empty and not built by pkgdown",
-    "!" = "Make sure it contains no important information \\
-            and use {.run pkgdown::clean_site()} to delete its contents."
-    )
-  )
-}
-
 local_options_link <- function(pkg, depth, .frame = parent.frame()) {
   article_index <- article_index(pkg)
   Rdname <- get_rdname(pkg$topics)