diff --git a/tests/prepare_pytests.py b/tests/prepare_pytests.py
index d1f7495f0712bfa0cbb033f454262867cbdcb6c0..8f6b20065e4469709d808ce37ea64a129bb1f31e 100755
--- a/tests/prepare_pytests.py
+++ b/tests/prepare_pytests.py
@@ -77,13 +77,6 @@ def main(argv):
 
     use_dut_binaries = False
 
-    # check for existing references
-    if os.path.exists(REFERENCE_DIR):
-        sys.exit(
-            f"Found existing references directory {REFERENCE_DIR}.\n"
-            "Please delete this directory if you want the references to be recreated."
-        )
-
     # check for DUT binaries
     if not os.path.exists(DEFAULT_ENCODER_DUT) or not os.path.exists(DEFAULT_DECODER_DUT):
         sys.exit(