diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/plugin/DefaultPluginManager.java b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/plugin/DefaultPluginManager.java
index d54645f10d..1c636ffb17 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/plugin/DefaultPluginManager.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/plugin/DefaultPluginManager.java
@@ -193,9 +193,14 @@ public class DefaultPluginManager implements PluginManager {
     doThrow().violation("plugin is a core plugin and cannot be uninstalled").when(installed.isCore());
 
     dependencyTracker.removeInstalled(installed.getDescriptor());
-    installed.setMarkedForUninstall(true);
 
-    createMarkerFile(installed, InstalledPlugin.UNINSTALL_MARKER_FILENAME);
+    try {
+      createMarkerFile(installed, InstalledPlugin.UNINSTALL_MARKER_FILENAME);
+      installed.setMarkedForUninstall(true);
+    } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+      dependencyTracker.addInstalled(installed.getDescriptor());
+      throw e;
+    }
 
     if (restartAfterInstallation) {
       restart("plugin installation");
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/plugin/PluginDependencyTracker.java b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/plugin/PluginDependencyTracker.java
index a68b391b97..2609522555 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/plugin/PluginDependencyTracker.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/plugin/PluginDependencyTracker.java
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ class PluginDependencyTracker {
   }
 
   private void removeDependency(String from, String to) {
-    plugins.get(to).remove(from);
+    Collection<String> dependencies = plugins.get(to);
+    if (dependencies == null) {
+      throw new NullPointerException("inverse dependencies not found for " + to);
+    }
+    dependencies.remove(from);
   }
 }
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/plugin/DefaultPluginManagerTest.java b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/plugin/DefaultPluginManagerTest.java
index 057a05eb79..ad196b8ca3 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/plugin/DefaultPluginManagerTest.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/plugin/DefaultPluginManagerTest.java
@@ -358,6 +358,24 @@ class DefaultPluginManagerTest {
       verify(mailPlugin).setMarkedForUninstall(true);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void shouldNotChangeStateWhenUninstallFileCouldNotBeCreated() {
+      InstalledPlugin mailPlugin = createInstalled("scm-mail-plugin");
+      InstalledPlugin reviewPlugin = createInstalled("scm-review-plugin");
+      when(reviewPlugin.getDescriptor().getDependencies()).thenReturn(singleton("scm-mail-plugin"));
+
+      when(reviewPlugin.getDirectory()).thenThrow(new PluginException("when the file could not be written an exception like this is thrown"));
+
+      when(loader.getInstalledPlugins()).thenReturn(asList(mailPlugin, reviewPlugin));
+
+      manager.computeInstallationDependencies();
+
+      assertThrows(PluginException.class, () -> manager.uninstall("scm-review-plugin", false));
+
+      verify(mailPlugin, never()).setMarkedForUninstall(true);
+      assertThrows(ScmConstraintViolationException.class, () -> manager.uninstall("scm-mail-plugin", false));
+    }
+
     @Test
     void shouldThrowExceptionWhenUninstallingCorePlugin(@TempDirectory.TempDir Path temp) {
       InstalledPlugin mailPlugin = createInstalled("scm-mail-plugin");