diff --git a/update_attempter_android.cc b/update_attempter_android.cc
index c738e4e..1cc8505 100644
--- a/update_attempter_android.cc
+++ b/update_attempter_android.cc
@@ -596,6 +596,9 @@
   CollectAndReportUpdateMetricsOnUpdateFinished(error_code);
   ClearMetricsPrefs();
   if (error_code == ErrorCode::kSuccess) {
+    // We should only reset the PayloadAttemptNumber if the update succeeds, or
+    // we switch to a different payload.
+    prefs_->Delete(kPrefsPayloadAttemptNumber);
     metrics_utils::SetSystemUpdatedMarker(clock_.get(), prefs_);
     // Clear the total bytes downloaded if and only if the update succeeds.
     prefs_->SetInt64(kPrefsTotalBytesDownloaded, 0);
@@ -826,7 +829,6 @@
   CHECK(prefs_);
   prefs_->Delete(kPrefsCurrentBytesDownloaded);
   prefs_->Delete(kPrefsNumReboots);
-  prefs_->Delete(kPrefsPayloadAttemptNumber);
   prefs_->Delete(kPrefsSystemUpdatedMarker);
   prefs_->Delete(kPrefsUpdateTimestampStart);
   prefs_->Delete(kPrefsUpdateBootTimestampStart);
diff --git a/update_attempter_android.h b/update_attempter_android.h
index e4b40de..c4710ad 100644
--- a/update_attempter_android.h
+++ b/update_attempter_android.h
@@ -151,9 +151,9 @@
   void UpdatePrefsOnUpdateStart(bool is_resume);
 
   // Prefs to delete:
-  //   |kPrefsNumReboots|, |kPrefsPayloadAttemptNumber|,
+  //   |kPrefsNumReboots|, |kPrefsCurrentBytesDownloaded|
   //   |kPrefsSystemUpdatedMarker|, |kPrefsUpdateTimestampStart|,
-  //   |kPrefsUpdateBootTimestampStart|, |kPrefsCurrentBytesDownloaded|
+  //   |kPrefsUpdateBootTimestampStart|
   void ClearMetricsPrefs();
 
   DaemonStateInterface* daemon_state_;
diff --git a/update_attempter_android_unittest.cc b/update_attempter_android_unittest.cc
index 2593d44..3be0b7e 100644
--- a/update_attempter_android_unittest.cc
+++ b/update_attempter_android_unittest.cc
@@ -111,9 +111,10 @@
   update_attempter_android_.Init();
   // Check that we reset the metric prefs.
   EXPECT_FALSE(prefs_.Exists(kPrefsNumReboots));
-  EXPECT_FALSE(prefs_.Exists(kPrefsPayloadAttemptNumber));
   EXPECT_FALSE(prefs_.Exists(kPrefsUpdateTimestampStart));
   EXPECT_FALSE(prefs_.Exists(kPrefsSystemUpdatedMarker));
+  // PayloadAttemptNumber should persist across reboots.
+  EXPECT_TRUE(prefs_.Exists(kPrefsPayloadAttemptNumber));
 }
 
 TEST_F(UpdateAttempterAndroidTest, ReportMetricsOnUpdateTerminated) {