diff --git a/containers.go b/containers.go
index 38d77e03f..4c3109e7f 100644
--- a/containers.go
+++ b/containers.go
@@ -243,8 +243,10 @@ func (r *containerStore) Save() error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	defer r.Touch()
-	return ioutils.AtomicWriteFile(rpath, jdata, 0600)
+	if err := ioutils.AtomicWriteFile(rpath, jdata, 0600); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return r.Touch()
 }
 
 func newContainerStore(dir string) (ContainerStore, error) {
diff --git a/images.go b/images.go
index 508b85f63..f2c8bb004 100644
--- a/images.go
+++ b/images.go
@@ -324,8 +324,10 @@ func (r *imageStore) Save() error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	defer r.Touch()
-	return ioutils.AtomicWriteFile(rpath, jdata, 0600)
+	if err := ioutils.AtomicWriteFile(rpath, jdata, 0600); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return r.Touch()
 }
 
 func newImageStore(dir string) (ImageStore, error) {
diff --git a/layers.go b/layers.go
index 5b6f4f9d5..c2f1ca748 100644
--- a/layers.go
+++ b/layers.go
@@ -501,8 +501,10 @@ func (r *layerStore) saveLayers() error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	defer r.Touch()
-	return ioutils.AtomicWriteFile(rpath, jldata, 0600)
+	if err := ioutils.AtomicWriteFile(rpath, jldata, 0600); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return r.Touch()
 }
 
 func (r *layerStore) saveMounts() error {