diff --git a/src/rest.c b/src/rest.c
index 02fbf8a..d3239a3 100644
--- a/src/rest.c
+++ b/src/rest.c
@@ -2695,13 +2695,6 @@ static int og_cmd_add_image(json_t *element, struct og_msg_params *params,
 		params->id = new_image_id;
 		json_object_set_new(element, "id", json_string(params->id));
 	} else {
-		if (!update) {
-			syslog(LOG_ERR, "cannot create image file `%s', it already exists\n",
-			       params->image.name);
-			og_dbi_close(dbi);
-			return -1;
-		}
-
 		syslog(LOG_INFO, "updating existing image `%s'\n", params->image.name);
 		snprintf(new_image_id, sizeof(new_image_id), "%lu", params->image.id);
 		params->id = new_image_id;