diff --git a/scripts/geodata/openaddresses/formatter.py b/scripts/geodata/openaddresses/formatter.py
index 35bc6c4c..75ce3e87 100644
--- a/scripts/geodata/openaddresses/formatter.py
+++ b/scripts/geodata/openaddresses/formatter.py
@@ -555,8 +555,8 @@ class OpenAddressesFormatter(object):
                             break
 
             for subdir in sorted(country_config.get('subdirs', {}).keys()):
-                subdir = safe_decode(subdir)
                 subdir_config = country_config['subdirs'][subdir]
+                subdir = safe_decode(subdir)
                 for file_config in subdir_config.get('files', []):
                     filename = file_config['filename']