diff --git a/eng/common/pipelines/templates/steps/sparse-checkout.yml b/eng/common/pipelines/templates/steps/sparse-checkout.yml
index efc8c6ed927b..a3b553b3a7a7 100644
--- a/eng/common/pipelines/templates/steps/sparse-checkout.yml
+++ b/eng/common/pipelines/templates/steps/sparse-checkout.yml
@@ -23,79 +23,52 @@ steps:
       # Define this inline, because of the chicken/egg problem with loading a script when nothing
       # has been checked out yet.
       script: |
-        function Clone([Hashtable]$repository)
-        {
-          if (Test-Path .git) {
-            Write-Warning "Deleting existing git repository"
-            Write-Host "Remove-Item -Force -Recurse ./*"
-            Remove-Item -Force -Recurse ./*
-          }
-
-          Write-Host "git clone https://github.com/$($repository.Name) ."
-          git clone https://github.com/$($repository.Name) .
-          if ($LASTEXITCODE) {
-            exit $LASTEXITCODE
-          }
-          Write-Host "git -c advice.detachedHead=false checkout $($repository.Commitish)"
-          # This will use the default branch if repo.Commitish is empty
-          git -c advice.detachedHead=false checkout $($repository.Commitish)
-          if ($LASTEXITCODE) {
-            exit $LASTEXITCODE
-          }
-        }
-
         function SparseCheckout([Array]$paths, [Hashtable]$repository)
         {
-          if (Test-Path .git/info/sparse-checkout) {
-            $hasInitialized = $true
-            Write-Host "Repository $($repository.Name) has already been initialized. Skipping this step."
-          } else {
-            Write-Host "Repository $($repository.Name) is being initialized."
-
-            Write-Host "git clone --no-checkout --filter=tree:0 https://github.com/$($repository.Name) ."
-            git clone --no-checkout --filter=tree:0 https://github.com/$($repository.Name) .
-            if ($LASTEXITCODE) {
-              throw
+            $dir = $repository.WorkingDirectory
+            if (!$dir) {
+              $dir = "./$($repository.Name)"
             }
+            New-Item $dir -ItemType Directory -Force
+            Push-Location $dir
 
-            Write-Host "git sparse-checkout init"
-            git sparse-checkout init
-            if ($LASTEXITCODE) {
-              throw
-            }
+            if (Test-Path .git/info/sparse-checkout) {
+              $hasInitialized = $true
+              Write-Host "Repository $($repository.Name) has already been initialized. Skipping this step."
+            } else {
+              Write-Host "Repository $($repository.Name) is being initialized."
+
+              Write-Host "git clone --no-checkout --filter=tree:0 https://github.com/$($repository.Name) ."
+              git clone --no-checkout --filter=tree:0 https://github.com/$($repository.Name) .
 
-            # Set non-cone mode otherwise path filters will not work in git >= 2.37.0
-            # See https://github.blog/2022-06-27-highlights-from-git-2-37/#tidbits
-            Write-Host "git sparse-checkout set --no-cone '/*' '!/*/' '/eng'"
-            git sparse-checkout set --no-cone '/*' '!/*/' '/eng'
-            if ($LASTEXITCODE) {
-              throw
+              Write-Host "git sparse-checkout init"
+              git sparse-checkout init
+
+              # Set non-cone mode otherwise path filters will not work in git >= 2.37.0
+              # See https://github.blog/2022-06-27-highlights-from-git-2-37/#tidbits
+              Write-Host "git sparse-checkout set --no-cone '/*' '!/*/' '/eng'"
+              git sparse-checkout set --no-cone '/*' '!/*/' '/eng'
             }
-          }
 
-          # Prevent wildcard expansion in Invoke-Expression (e.g. for checkout path '/*')
-          $quotedPaths = $paths | ForEach-Object { "'$_'" }
-          $gitsparsecmd = "git sparse-checkout add $quotedPaths"
-          Write-Host $gitsparsecmd
-          Invoke-Expression -Command $gitsparsecmd
-          if ($LASTEXITCODE) {
-            throw
-          }
+            # Prevent wildcard expansion in Invoke-Expression (e.g. for checkout path '/*')
+            $quotedPaths = $paths | ForEach-Object { "'$_'" }
+            $gitsparsecmd = "git sparse-checkout add $quotedPaths"
+            Write-Host $gitsparsecmd
+            Invoke-Expression -Command $gitsparsecmd
 
-          Write-Host "Set sparse checkout paths to:"
-          Get-Content .git/info/sparse-checkout
+            Write-Host "Set sparse checkout paths to:"
+            Get-Content .git/info/sparse-checkout
 
-          # sparse-checkout commands after initial checkout will auto-checkout again
-          if (!$hasInitialized) {
-            Write-Host "git -c advice.detachedHead=false checkout $($repository.Commitish)"
-            # This will use the default branch if repo.Commitish is empty
-            git -c advice.detachedHead=false checkout $($repository.Commitish)
-            if ($LASTEXITCODE) {
-              throw
+            # sparse-checkout commands after initial checkout will auto-checkout again
+            if (!$hasInitialized) {
+              Write-Host "git -c advice.detachedHead=false checkout $($repository.Commitish)"
+              # This will use the default branch if repo.Commitish is empty
+              git -c advice.detachedHead=false checkout $($repository.Commitish)
+            } else {
+              Write-Host "Skipping checkout as repo has already been initialized"
             }
-          } else {
-            Write-Host "Skipping checkout as repo has already been initialized"
-          }
+
+            Pop-Location
         }
 
         # Paths may be sourced as a yaml object literal OR a dynamically generated variable json string.
@@ -104,30 +77,7 @@ steps:
         # Replace windows backslash paths, as Azure Pipelines default directories are sometimes formatted like 'D:\a\1\s'
         $repositories = '${{ convertToJson(parameters.Repositories) }}' -replace '\\', '/' | ConvertFrom-Json -AsHashtable
         foreach ($repo in $Repositories) {
-          $dir = $repo.WorkingDirectory
-          if (!$dir) {
-            $dir = "./$($repo.Name)"
-          }
-          New-Item $dir -ItemType Directory -Force
-          Push-Location $dir
-
-          try {
-            # Enable global override if there are sparse checkout issues
-            if ('$(SkipSparseCheckout)' -ne 'true') {
-              try {
-                SparseCheckout $paths $repo
-              } catch {
-                # Fallback to full clone if sparse checkout is not working properly
-                Write-Warning "Sparse checkout failed, falling back to full clone"
-                Clone $repo
-              }
-            } else {
-              Write-Warning "Sparse checkout disabled, performing full clone"
-              Clone $repo
-            }
-          } finally {
-            Pop-Location
-          }
+          SparseCheckout $paths $repo
         }
       pwsh: true
       workingDirectory: $(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)