diff --git a/repair/repair.cc b/repair/repair.cc
index 5f38ba97ee..b8eaf4c247 100644
--- a/repair/repair.cc
+++ b/repair/repair.cc
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 
 #include <cryptopp/sha.h>
 #include <seastar/core/gate.hh>
+#include <seastar/util/defer.hh>
 
 static logging::logger rlogger("repair");
 
@@ -1050,6 +1051,7 @@ static int do_repair_start(seastar::sharded<database>& db, sstring keyspace,
     int id = repair_tracker.next_repair_command();
     rlogger.info("starting user-requested repair for keyspace {}, repair id {}, options {}", keyspace, id, options_map);
     repair_tracker.start(id);
+    auto fail = defer([&repair_tracker, id] { repair_tracker.done(id, false); });
 
     // If the "ranges" option is not explicitly specified, we repair all the
     // local ranges (the token ranges for which this node holds a replica of).
@@ -1137,17 +1139,16 @@ static int do_repair_start(seastar::sharded<database>& db, sstring keyspace,
         repair_results.push_back(std::move(f));
     }
 
-    when_all(repair_results.begin(), repair_results.end()).then([id] (std::vector<future<>> results) {
+    when_all(repair_results.begin(), repair_results.end()).then([id, fail = std::move(fail)] (std::vector<future<>> results) mutable {
         if (std::any_of(results.begin(), results.end(), [] (auto&& f) { return f.failed(); })) {
-            repair_tracker.done(id, false);
             rlogger.info("repair {} failed", id);
         } else {
+            fail.cancel();
             repair_tracker.done(id, true);
             rlogger.info("repair {} completed successfully", id);
         }
         return make_ready_future<>();
     }).handle_exception([id] (std::exception_ptr eptr) {
-         repair_tracker.done(id, false);
          rlogger.info("repair {} failed: {}", id, eptr);
     });