diff --git a/hack/verify-generated-files.sh b/hack/verify-generated-files.sh
index d813e54bed..f43678068b 100755
--- a/hack/verify-generated-files.sh
+++ b/hack/verify-generated-files.sh
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ set -o pipefail
 export KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/..
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/lib/init.sh"
 
+kube::util::ensure_clean_working_dir
+
 _tmpdir="$(kube::realpath $(mktemp -d -t verify-generated-files.XXXXXX))"
 kube::util::trap_add "rm -rf ${_tmpdir}" EXIT