diff --git a/hoodie-client/src/main/java/com/uber/hoodie/HoodieWriteClient.java b/hoodie-client/src/main/java/com/uber/hoodie/HoodieWriteClient.java
index 43a965a320b3f..208909120cbd5 100644
--- a/hoodie-client/src/main/java/com/uber/hoodie/HoodieWriteClient.java
+++ b/hoodie-client/src/main/java/com/uber/hoodie/HoodieWriteClient.java
@@ -720,7 +720,7 @@ public void close() {
      * by a running query can be cleaned)
      */
     public void clean() throws HoodieIOException {
-        String startCleanTime = startCommit();
+        String startCleanTime = HoodieActiveTimeline.createNewCommitTime();
         clean(startCleanTime);
     }