A method begins with a processing module of a computing device of a dispersed storage network (DSN) executing a rebuild function to produce a rebuilt encoded data slice for storage in a targeted storage unit of the DSN. When the targeted storage unit is currently unavailable, the method continues with the processing module storing the rebuilt encoded data slice in local memory of the computing device, recording storage of the rebuilt encoded data slice in the local memory, and recording that the targeted storage unit is currently unavailable. When the targeted storage unit is currently available, the method continues with the processing module sending the rebuilt encoded data slice to the targeted storage unit and recording storage of the rebuilt encoded data slice by the targeted storage unit.