diff --git a/qga/vss-win32/install.cpp b/qga/vss-win32/install.cpp
index 6ee2f44a10..7b25d9098b 100644
--- a/qga/vss-win32/install.cpp
+++ b/qga/vss-win32/install.cpp
@@ -287,9 +287,13 @@ STDAPI COMRegister(void)
 
     chk(QGAProviderFind(QGAProviderCount, (void *)&count));
     if (count) {
-        errmsg(E_ABORT, "QGA VSS Provider is already installed");
-        qga_debug_end;
-        return E_ABORT;
+        qga_debug("QGA VSS Provider is already installed. Attempting to unregister first.");
+        hr = COMUnregister();
+        if (FAILED(hr)) {
+            errmsg(hr, "Failed to unregister existing QGA VSS Provider. Aborting installation.");
+            qga_debug_end;
+            return E_ABORT;
+        }
     }
 
     chk(CoCreateInstance(CLSID_COMAdminCatalog, NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,