diff --git a/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/CleanupLocalProgressFiles.java b/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/CleanupLocalProgressFiles.java
index 6e9e89985..d0667fd9f 100644
--- a/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/CleanupLocalProgressFiles.java
+++ b/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/CleanupLocalProgressFiles.java
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ public class CleanupLocalProgressFiles {
     @PostConstruct
     public void clean() {
         File dir = new File(webgoatHome);
-        FileSystemUtils.deleteRecursively(dir);
+        //do it safe, check whether the subdir mongodb is available as subdirectory
+        File[] mongoDir = dir.listFiles(f -> f.isDirectory() && f.getName().contains("mongodb"));
+        if (mongoDir != null && mongoDir.length == 1) {
+            FileSystemUtils.deleteRecursively(dir);
+        }
     }
 }