diff --git a/src/main/bash/install.sh b/src/main/bash/install.sh
index c2407b1f..b1290fee 100755
--- a/src/main/bash/install.sh
+++ b/src/main/bash/install.sh
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ sdkman_zip_file="${sdkman_tmp_folder}/res-${SDKMAN_VERSION}.zip"
 sdkman_ext_folder="${SDKMAN_DIR}/ext"
 sdkman_etc_folder="${SDKMAN_DIR}/etc"
 sdkman_var_folder="${SDKMAN_DIR}/var"
+sdkman_candidates_folder="${SDKMAN_DIR}/candidates"
 sdkman_config_file="${sdkman_etc_folder}/config"
 sdkman_bash_profile="${HOME}/.bash_profile"
 sdkman_profile="${HOME}/.profile"
@@ -196,6 +197,7 @@ mkdir -p "${sdkman_stage_folder}"
 mkdir -p "${sdkman_ext_folder}"
 mkdir -p "${sdkman_etc_folder}"
 mkdir -p "${sdkman_var_folder}"
+mkdir -p "${sdkman_candidates_folder}"
 
 echo "Getting available candidates..."
 SDKMAN_CANDIDATES_CSV=$(curl -s "${SDKMAN_SERVICE}/candidates")
diff --git a/src/main/bash/selfupdate.sh b/src/main/bash/selfupdate.sh
index b2e19ab3..f1361dba 100755
--- a/src/main/bash/selfupdate.sh
+++ b/src/main/bash/selfupdate.sh
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ rm -rf "${sdkman_src_folder}"
 
 sdkman_echo_debug "Refresh directory structure..."
 mkdir -p "${SDKMAN_DIR}/bin"
+mkdir -p "${SDKMAN_DIR}/candidates"
 mkdir -p "${SDKMAN_DIR}/ext"
 mkdir -p "${SDKMAN_DIR}/etc"
 mkdir -p "${SDKMAN_DIR}/src"
@@ -189,8 +190,13 @@ IFS="$OLD_IFS"
 
 for candidate in "${SDKMAN_CANDIDATES[@]}"; do
     if [[ -n "$candidate" ]]; then
-        sdkman_echo_debug "Attempt removal of ${candidate} dir: ${SDKMAN_DIR}/${candidate}"
-        rmdir --ignore-fail-on-non-empty "${SDKMAN_DIR}/${candidate}"
+        if [[ -z "$(ls -A /path/to/directory)" ]]; then
+            sdkman_echo_debug "Attempt removal of ${candidate} dir: ${SDKMAN_DIR}/${candidate}"
+            rmdir --ignore-fail-on-non-empty "${SDKMAN_DIR}/${candidate}"
+        else
+            mv "${SDKMAN_DIR}/${candidate}" "${SDKMAN_DIR}/candidates/${candidate}"
+            ln -s "${SDKMAN_DIR}/candidates/${candidate}" "${SDKMAN_DIR}/${candidate}"
+        fi
     fi
 done