Pipeline run on new branch - fails on first build, but succeeds if the build is replayed - jenkins

Question

I have a build job which is showing strange behavior. When I create a new branch, or tag, the first deploy will fail in my "Build config" stage. If I replay that same build with no alterations, it works beautifully. I assume it has something to do with the workspace, but the logs are truly unhelpful.
The log is just as unhelpful:
15:57:34 [Pipeline] stage
15:57:34 [Pipeline] { (Building config)
15:57:34 [Pipeline] withEnv
15:57:34 [Pipeline] {
15:57:34 [Pipeline] echo
15:57:34 Building config file /home/jenkins/workspace/MyProject_1.11.111/src/globals.inc.php
15:57:34 [Pipeline] script
15:57:34 [Pipeline] {
15:57:35 [Pipeline] readFile
15:57:35 [Pipeline] }
15:57:35 [Pipeline] // script
15:57:35 [Pipeline] }
15:57:35 [Pipeline] // withEnv
15:57:35 [Pipeline] }
15:57:35 [Pipeline] // stage
stage ('Building config'){
when {
anyOf{
buildingTag()
expression{
return params.DEPLOY == true
}
}
}
environment {
TEMPLATE_FILE="globals.template.inc.php"
CONFIG_FILE="globals.inc.php"
}
steps {
echo "Building config file ${SOURCE_DIR}/${CONFIG_FILE}"
script {
def inptext = readFile file: "${SOURCE_DIR}/${TEMPLATE_FILE}"
//save deploydate
def deployDate = (new java.text.SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm")).format((new Date()))
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤SITE_TITLE¤/, "${SITE_TITLE}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤SITE_NAME¤/, "${SITE_NAME}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤SITE_FQDN¤/, "${SITE_FQDN}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL¤/, "${DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤SESSION_NAME¤/, "${SESSION_NAME}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤CERT_LOCATION¤/, "${CERT_LOCATION}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤MYSQL_HOSTNAME¤/, "${MYSQL_HOSTNAME}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤MYSQL_PORT¤/, "${MYSQL_PORT}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤MYSQL_DB_NAME¤/, "${MYSQL_DB_NAME}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤MYSQL_USERNAME¤/, "${MYSQL_USERNAME}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤MYSQL_PASSWORD¤/, "${MYSQL_PASSWORD}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤DEPLOY_DATE¤/, "${deployDate}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤GIT_BRANCH¤/, "${env.GIT_BRANCH}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤GIT_COMMIT¤/, "${env.GIT_COMMIT}")
inptext = inptext.replaceAll(~/¤GIT_TAG¤/, "${env.TAG_NAME}")
writeFile file: "${SOURCE_DIR}/${CONFIG_FILE}", text: inptext
}
}
}
I am aware that solutions like dotenv exist, but I can't implement that at the moment
If it has any relevance, here is the preceding stage as well..
stage ('Staging'){
steps {
script {
properties([
parameters([
booleanParam(
defaultValue: false,
description: 'whether to trigger a deploy',
name: 'DEPLOY'
),
string(
defaultValue: "${env.BRANCH_NAME}",
name: 'BUILD_NAME'
),
string(
defaultValue: '',
description: 'path to deploy to',
name: 'DEPLOY_DIR'
),
string(
defaultValue: '',
description: 'SSH server name to deploy to',
name: 'SSH_SERVER_NAME'
),
string(
defaultValue: '',
description: 'Username for SSH connection',
name: 'SSH_USERNAME'
),
string(
defaultValue: '',
description: 'Title of the site',
name: 'SITE_TITLE'
),
string(
defaultValue: '',
name: 'SITE_NAME'
),
string(
defaultValue: '',
description: 'Fully Qualified Domain Name',
name: 'SITE_FQDN',
trim: true
),
string(
defaultValue: '',
description: 'email to send from',
name: 'DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL',
trim: true
),
string(
defaultValue: '',
description: 'Sessionname (this should be unique foer every environment)',
name: 'SESSION_NAME',
trim: true
),
string(
defaultValue: '',
description: 'full path to certificate location',
name: 'CERT_LOCATION',
trim: true
),
string(
defaultValue: 'localhost',
description: 'MySQL Servername',
name: 'MYSQL_HOSTNAME',
trim: true
),
string(
defaultValue: '3306',
description: 'MySQL port number',
name: 'MYSQL_PORT',
trim: true
),
string(
defaultValue: '',
description: 'MySQL database name',
name: 'MYSQL_DB_NAME',
trim: true
),
string(
defaultValue: '',
description: 'MySQL username ',
name: 'MYSQL_USERNAME',
trim: true
),
string(
defaultValue: '',
description: 'Password for MYSQL_USERNAME',
name: 'MYSQL_PASSWORD',
trim: true
)
])
])
currentBuild.displayName = "${params.BUILD_NAME}-${env.BUILD_NUMBER}"
}
echo "Cleanup build artifacts"
dir("${WORKSPACE}/build"){
deleteDir()
}
dir("${WORKSPACE}/src/!devHelpers"){
deleteDir()
}
echo "Prepare for build"
//re-create folders
sh "mkdir ${WORKSPACE}/build ${WORKSPACE}/build/api ${WORKSPACE}/build/coverage ${WORKSPACE}/build/logs ${WORKSPACE}/build/pdepend ${WORKSPACE}/build/phpdox"
echo "Running composer"
sh "composer install -o -d ${SOURCE_DIR}"
}
}