diff --git a/infra/fast-time/tn-late-join.mjs b/infra/fast-time/tn-late-join.mjs
index d546f5bbe..5d2573f17 100644
--- a/infra/fast-time/tn-late-join.mjs
+++ b/infra/fast-time/tn-late-join.mjs
@@ -189,7 +189,8 @@ const aSinkHeader = await a.headerOf(aAtJoin.sink);
 log(`A ready for the join: ${aAtJoin.blockCount} blocks, ${aAtJoin.headerCount} headers, daa ${aAtJoin.virtualDaaScore}, pruning point ${String(aAtJoin.pruningPointHash).slice(0, 8)}, sink ${String(aAtJoin.sink).slice(0, 8)} version ${aSinkHeader.version}`);
 if (!pruningMovedAt) { log(`SUMMARY FAIL (expect ${EXPECT}): A's pruning point never left genesis in ${MAX_MINE} s; the chain is too short for a headers-proof join`); await stopAll(); process.exit(1); }
 
-// the fresh node
+// the fresh node (on a resume, B's directory from an earlier join is wiped so B joins fresh)
+if (RESUME) rmSync(`${TMP}/n1`, { recursive: true, force: true });
 const b = await new Node(1, a.p2pPort).start();
 const tj = Date.now();
 let joined = null, proofLine = null, doneLine = null, lastJ = 0;