diff --git a/installers/common.sh b/installers/common.sh
index ab686a7d..4fdf9dae 100644
--- a/installers/common.sh
+++ b/installers/common.sh
@@ -638,18 +638,12 @@ function _download_latest_files() {
         exit 1
     fi
 
-    if [ "$upgrade" == 1 ] || [ "$update" == 1 ]; then
-        if [ -d "$source_dir/plugins" ]; then
-            find "$source_dir/plugins" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d ! -name '.git*' -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null
-        fi
-    fi
-
     if [ -d "$webroot_dir" ] && [ "$update" == 0 ]; then
         sudo mv $webroot_dir "$webroot_dir.`date +%F-%R`" || _install_status 1 "Unable to move existing webroot directory"
     elif [ "$upgrade" == 1 ] || [ "$update" == 1 ]; then
         exclude='--exclude=ajax/system/sys_read_logfile.php'
 
-        # Preserve user plugins in /tmp
+        # Preserve user plugins temporarily
         if [ -d "$webroot_dir/plugins" ]; then
             sudo cp -r "$webroot_dir/plugins" "/tmp/raspap-user-plugins"
         fi
@@ -658,6 +652,7 @@ function _download_latest_files() {
 
         sudo find "$webroot_dir" -mindepth 1 ! -path "${webroot_dir}/ajax" ! -path "${webroot_dir}/ajax/*" ! -path "${webroot_dir}/plugins" ! -path "${webroot_dir}/plugins/*" -delete 2>/dev/null
         sudo find "$webroot_dir/ajax" ! -path "${webroot_dir}/ajax/system/sys_read_logfile.php" -delete 2>/dev/null
+
         # Remove plugins to permit clean rsync
         sudo rm -rf "$webroot_dir/plugins"
     fi
@@ -668,7 +663,8 @@ function _download_latest_files() {
     # Restore user plugins after rsync
     if [ "$upgrade" == 1 ] || [ "$update" == 1 ]; then
         if [ -d "/tmp/raspap-user-plugins" ]; then
-            sudo cp -r /tmp/raspap-user-plugins/* "$webroot_dir/plugins/" 2>/dev/null
+            # Exclude root-level files like manifest.json
+            sudo find /tmp/raspap-user-plugins -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -exec cp -r {} "$webroot_dir/plugins/" \; 2>/dev/null
             sudo rm -rf "/tmp/raspap-user-plugins"
         fi
     fi