diff --git a/src/main/java/net/fabricmc/loom/util/download/DownloadBuilder.java b/src/main/java/net/fabricmc/loom/util/download/DownloadBuilder.java
index 95d46623..15242936 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/fabricmc/loom/util/download/DownloadBuilder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/fabricmc/loom/util/download/DownloadBuilder.java
@@ -114,22 +114,21 @@ public class DownloadBuilder {
 	}
 
 	public String downloadString(Path cache) throws DownloadException {
-		withRetries(() -> {
+		return withRetries(() -> {
 			build().downloadPath(cache);
-			return null;
-		});
 
-		try {
-			return Files.readString(cache, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
-		} catch (IOException e) {
 			try {
-				Files.delete(cache);
-			} catch (IOException ex) {
-				// Ignored
-			}
+				return Files.readString(cache, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+			} catch (IOException e) {
+				try {
+					Files.deleteIfExists(cache);
+				} catch (IOException ex) {
+					// Ignored
+				}
 
-			throw new DownloadException("Failed to download and read string", e);
-		}
+				throw new DownloadException("Failed to download and read string", e);
+			}
+		});
 	}
 
 	private <T> T withRetries(DownloadSupplier<T> supplier) throws DownloadException {
diff --git a/src/test/groovy/net/fabricmc/loom/test/unit/download/DownloadStringTest.groovy b/src/test/groovy/net/fabricmc/loom/test/unit/download/DownloadStringTest.groovy
index 66f58dd6..d9ccdd3b 100644
--- a/src/test/groovy/net/fabricmc/loom/test/unit/download/DownloadStringTest.groovy
+++ b/src/test/groovy/net/fabricmc/loom/test/unit/download/DownloadStringTest.groovy
@@ -95,4 +95,18 @@ class DownloadStringTest extends DownloadTest {
 		then:
 			result == "Hello World 3"
 	}
+
+	def "String: File cache"() {
+		setup:
+			server.get("/downloadString2") {
+				it.result("Hello World!")
+			}
+
+		when:
+			def output = new File(File.createTempDir(), "file.txt").toPath()
+			def result = Download.create("$PATH/downloadString2").downloadString(output)
+
+		then:
+			result == "Hello World!"
+	}
 }