diff --git a/src/reverseproxy.js b/src/reverseproxy.js
index d04baa8c8..4d8df22bf 100644
--- a/src/reverseproxy.js
+++ b/src/reverseproxy.js
@@ -562,19 +562,6 @@ async function unconfigureApp(app) {
     await reload();
 }
 
-async function ensureCertificates(locations, auditSource, progressCallback) {
-    assert(Array.isArray(locations));
-    assert.strictEqual(typeof auditSource, 'object');
-    assert.strictEqual(typeof progressCallback, 'function');
-
-    let percent = 1;
-    for (const location of locations) {
-        percent += Math.round(100/locations.length);
-        progressCallback({ percent, message: `Ensuring certs of ${location.fqdn}` });
-        await ensureCertificate(location, auditSource);
-    }
-}
-
 async function cleanupCerts(locations, auditSource, progressCallback) {
     assert(Array.isArray(locations));
     assert.strictEqual(typeof auditSource, 'object');
@@ -634,7 +621,12 @@ async function checkCerts(options, auditSource, progressCallback) {
         locations = locations.concat(getAppLocationsSync(app));
     }
 
-    await ensureCertificates(locations, auditSource, progressCallback);
+    let percent = 1;
+    for (const location of locations) {
+        percent += Math.round(100/locations.length);
+        progressCallback({ percent, message: `Ensuring certs of ${location.fqdn}` });
+        await ensureCertificate(location, auditSource);
+    }
 
     if (options.rebuild || fs.existsSync(paths.REVERSE_PROXY_REBUILD_FILE)) {
         progressCallback( { message: 'Rebuilding app configs' });
@@ -645,6 +637,12 @@ async function checkCerts(options, auditSource, progressCallback) {
         await notifyCertChange(); // this allows user to "rebuild" using UI just in case we crashed and went out of sync
         safe.fs.unlinkSync(paths.REVERSE_PROXY_REBUILD_FILE);
     } else {
+        // sync all locations and not just the ones that changed. this helps with 0 length certs when disk is full and also
+        // if renewal task crashed midway.
+        for (const location of locations) {
+            await writeCertificate(location);
+        }
+        await reload();
         await notifyCertChange(); // propagate any cert changes to services
     }