diff --git a/packages/ponylang/0.39.0/build.sh b/packages/ponylang/0.39.0/build.sh
index cc10f33..b308638 100755
--- a/packages/ponylang/0.39.0/build.sh
+++ b/packages/ponylang/0.39.0/build.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 PREFIX=$(realpath $(dirname $0))
 
+cd ponyc
+
 # get sources - only get the latest copy of the relevant files
 git clone -q https://github.com/ponylang/ponyc.git ponyc
 # release commit for 0.39.0
@@ -11,8 +13,6 @@ git reset --hard 85d897b978c5082a1f3264a3a9ad479446d73984
 # i.e. https://github.com/ponylang/ponyc/blob/main/.gitmodules
 git submodule update --recursive --init
 
-cd ponyc
-
 # Build the vendored LLVM libraries that are included in the `lib/llvm/src`.
 make libs build_flags="-j$(nproc)"
 # Configure the CMake build directory.