diff --git a/appdaemon/state.py b/appdaemon/state.py
index 851ac267c..ee7dbb6ba 100644
--- a/appdaemon/state.py
+++ b/appdaemon/state.py
@@ -879,7 +879,8 @@ async def set_namespace_state(self, namespace: str, state: dict[str, Any], persi
             self.state[namespace].update(state)
         else:
             # first in case it had been created before, it should be deleted
-            await self.remove_namespace(namespace)
+            if isinstance(self.state.get(namespace), utils.PersistentDict):
+                await self.remove_persistent_namespace(namespace, self.state[namespace])
             self.state[namespace] = state
 
     def update_namespace_state(self, namespace: str | list[str], state: dict):