diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index ff85040e..ac2395bf 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1632,9 +1632,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rayon"
-version = "1.3.1"
+version = "1.4.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "62f02856753d04e03e26929f820d0a0a337ebe71f849801eea335d464b349080"
+checksum = "dcf6960dc9a5b4ee8d3e4c5787b4a112a8818e0290a42ff664ad60692fdf2032"
 dependencies = [
  "autocfg 1.0.0",
  "crossbeam-deque",
@@ -1644,12 +1644,12 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rayon-core"
-version = "1.7.1"
+version = "1.8.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "e92e15d89083484e11353891f1af602cc661426deb9564c298b270c726973280"
+checksum = "e8c4fec834fb6e6d2dd5eece3c7b432a52f0ba887cf40e595190c4107edc08bf"
 dependencies = [
+ "crossbeam-channel",
  "crossbeam-deque",
- "crossbeam-queue",
  "crossbeam-utils",
  "lazy_static",
  "num_cpus",
@@ -1697,6 +1697,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi 0.3.9",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "remove_dir_all"
+version = "0.6.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3f43c8c593a759eb8eae137a1ad7b9ed881453a942ac3ce58b87b6e5c2364779"
+dependencies = [
+ "log",
+ "num_cpus",
+ "rayon",
+ "winapi 0.3.9",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rsa"
 version = "0.3.0"
@@ -2025,6 +2037,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "futures",
  "glob",
  "openssl",
+ "remove_dir_all 0.6.0",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "sqlx",
@@ -2322,7 +2335,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc",
  "rand",
  "redox_syscall",
- "remove_dir_all",
+ "remove_dir_all 0.5.3",
  "winapi 0.3.9",
 ]
 
diff --git a/sqlx-cli/Cargo.toml b/sqlx-cli/Cargo.toml
index b94ff73d..49849cba 100644
--- a/sqlx-cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/sqlx-cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ serde = "1.0.110"
 glob = "0.3.0"
 cargo_metadata = "0.10.0"
 openssl = { version = "0.10.30", optional = true }
+# workaround for https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/29497
+remove_dir_all = "0.6.0"
 
 [features]
 default = [ "postgres", "sqlite", "mysql" ]
diff --git a/sqlx-cli/src/prepare.rs b/sqlx-cli/src/prepare.rs
index b38ddc1c..11a00c12 100644
--- a/sqlx-cli/src/prepare.rs
+++ b/sqlx-cli/src/prepare.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use anyhow::{bail, Context};
 use cargo_metadata::MetadataCommand;
 use console::style;
+use remove_dir_all::remove_dir_all;
 use sqlx::any::{AnyConnectOptions, AnyKind};
 use std::collections::BTreeMap;
 use std::fs::File;
@@ -82,6 +83,15 @@ fn run_prepare_step(cargo_args: Vec<String>) -> anyhow::Result<QueryData> {
     let cargo = env::var("CARGO")
         .context("`prepare` subcommand may only be invoked as `cargo sqlx prepare``")?;
 
+    let metadata = MetadataCommand::new()
+        .cargo_path(&cargo)
+        .exec()
+        .context("failed to execute `cargo metadata`")?;
+
+    // try removing the target/sqlx directory before running, as stale files
+    // have repeatedly caused issues in the past.
+    let _ = remove_dir_all(metadata.target_directory.join("sqlx"));
+
     let check_status = Command::new(&cargo)
         .arg("rustc")
         .args(cargo_args)
@@ -100,11 +110,6 @@ fn run_prepare_step(cargo_args: Vec<String>) -> anyhow::Result<QueryData> {
         bail!("`cargo check` failed with status: {}", check_status);
     }
 
-    let metadata = MetadataCommand::new()
-        .cargo_path(cargo)
-        .exec()
-        .context("failed to execute `cargo metadata`")?;
-
     let pattern = metadata.target_directory.join("sqlx/query-*.json");
 
     let mut data = BTreeMap::new();