diff --git a/tika-core/src/main/java/org/apache/tika/fork/ForkClient.java b/tika-core/src/main/java/org/apache/tika/fork/ForkClient.java
index f1a47206d9b..8bacaf83f05 100644
--- a/tika-core/src/main/java/org/apache/tika/fork/ForkClient.java
+++ b/tika-core/src/main/java/org/apache/tika/fork/ForkClient.java
@@ -323,7 +323,9 @@ public synchronized void close() {
             }
         }
         if (jar != null) {
-            jar.delete();
+            if (!jar.delete()) {
+                jar.deleteOnExit();
+            }
         }
     }