diff --git a/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py b/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py
index e4180143aa8f34849687e52b408f418ba726f253..979766d49af85dcbbc23af6143cb6f4fcdf32ff8 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py
@@ -504,6 +504,10 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     if args.verbose >= 3:
         conda_verbosity = ["-vv"]
 
+    # clean all caches because we may have changed
+    # the URL address of channels
+    run_cmdline([conda_bin, "clean", "--all"] + conda_verbosity)
+
     # print conda information for debugging purposes
     run_cmdline([conda_bin, "info"] + conda_verbosity)