diff --git a/run-vmtest/action.yml b/run-vmtest/action.yml
index ac9aa18..4937e67 100644
--- a/run-vmtest/action.yml
+++ b/run-vmtest/action.yml
@@ -69,3 +69,12 @@ runs:
       run: |
         ${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/run.sh
 
+    # Callers upload this directory with if: always(), and the upload rejects
+    # the characters this renames, so it has to happen even when the step
+    # above fails.
+    - name: Normalize traffic monitor log paths
+      if: always()
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        ${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/normalize-paths-for-github.sh /tmp/tmon_pcap
+
diff --git a/run-vmtest/run.sh b/run-vmtest/run.sh
index d998e66..a7c6ab0 100755
--- a/run-vmtest/run.sh
+++ b/run-vmtest/run.sh
@@ -115,10 +115,6 @@ foldable end vmtest_toml
 vmtest -c $VMTEST_TOML
 rm -f $VMTEST_TOML
 
-# fixup traffic montioring log paths if present
-PCAP_DIR=/tmp/tmon_pcap
-${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/normalize-paths-for-github.sh "$PCAP_DIR"
-
 foldable end vmtest
 
 foldable start collect_status "Collecting exit status"