diff --git a/t/t5526-fetch-submodules.sh b/t/t5526-fetch-submodules.sh
index 75da8acf8f..b9546ef8e5 100755
--- a/t/t5526-fetch-submodules.sh
+++ b/t/t5526-fetch-submodules.sh
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ test_expect_success "submodule.recurse option triggers recursive fetch" '
 '
 
 test_expect_success "fetch --recurse-submodules -j2 has the same output behaviour" '
+	test_when_finished "rm -f trace.out" &&
 	add_submodule_commits &&
 	(
 		cd downstream &&
@@ -705,15 +706,22 @@ test_expect_success "'fetch.recurseSubmodules=on-demand' works also without .git
 
 test_expect_success 'fetching submodules respects parallel settings' '
 	git config fetch.recurseSubmodules true &&
+	test_when_finished "rm -f downstream/trace.out" &&
 	(
 		cd downstream &&
 		GIT_TRACE=$(pwd)/trace.out git fetch &&
 		grep "1 tasks" trace.out &&
+		>trace.out &&
+
 		GIT_TRACE=$(pwd)/trace.out git fetch --jobs 7 &&
 		grep "7 tasks" trace.out &&
+		>trace.out &&
+
 		git config submodule.fetchJobs 8 &&
 		GIT_TRACE=$(pwd)/trace.out git fetch &&
 		grep "8 tasks" trace.out &&
+		>trace.out &&
+
 		GIT_TRACE=$(pwd)/trace.out git fetch --jobs 9 &&
 		grep "9 tasks" trace.out &&
 		>trace.out &&