diff --git a/build__common.sh b/build__common.sh
index 8017886..5cd6ef8 100644
--- a/build__common.sh
+++ b/build__common.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ common_start() {
 
         deployment="${1:-${deployment:-}}"
         action="${action:-deploy}"
+        persistence="${persistence:-y}"
 
         # detach on production deployment
         if [ "${deployment}" = 'prod' ]; then
@@ -29,12 +30,23 @@ common_start() {
         idhub="${idhub:-idhub__${target}}"
         idhub1="${idhub1:-idhub1__${target}}"
         idhub2="${idhub2:-idhub2__${target}}"
+
+        if [ "${persistence}" = "n" ]; then
+                # no data persistence: cleanup previous possible data
+                rm -rf "./${idhub}"
+        fi
 }
 
 common_end() {
 
         dc_file="docker-compose__${target}.yml"
-        docker compose -p ${target} -f ${dc_file} down -v || true
+
+        if [ "${persistence}" = "n" ]; then
+                # no data persistence, then cleanup docker volume
+                vol_arg='-v'
+        fi
+
+        docker compose -p ${target} -f ${dc_file} down ${vol_arg:-} || true
         make idhub_build
 
         if [ "${action:-}" = "deploy" ]; then
diff --git a/build__instance-autotest.sh b/build__instance-autotest.sh
index 94aaa01..f3d805c 100755
--- a/build__instance-autotest.sh
+++ b/build__instance-autotest.sh
@@ -17,10 +17,9 @@ main() {
 
         idhub="idhub__${target}"
 
-        common_start
+        persistence='n'
 
-        # no data persistence: cleanup previous possible data
-        rm -rf "./${idhub}"
+        common_start
 
         # detect if is new
         if [ ! -f "./${idhub}" ]; then