diff --git a/weave b/weave
index 976cc4b9..dab90e71 100755
--- a/weave
+++ b/weave
@@ -241,10 +241,6 @@ connect_container_to_bridge() {
 
     if ! ip netns exec $NETNS ip link set $GUEST_IFNAME name $CONTAINER_IFNAME ||
        ! configure_arp_cache $CONTAINER_IFNAME "ip netns exec $NETNS" ; then
-        # failed after we assigned the veth to the container's
-        # namespace, and we don't know if it was renamed or not.
-        ip netns exec $NETNS ip link del $GUEST_IFNAME type veth 2>/dev/null || true
-        ip netns exec $NETNS ip link del $CONTAINER_IFNAME type veth 2>/dev/null || true
         return 1
     fi
 }