diff --git a/llama_stack/providers/remote/vector_io/chroma/chroma.py b/llama_stack/providers/remote/vector_io/chroma/chroma.py
index a9ec644ef..5612ed0fd 100644
--- a/llama_stack/providers/remote/vector_io/chroma/chroma.py
+++ b/llama_stack/providers/remote/vector_io/chroma/chroma.py
@@ -56,10 +56,11 @@ class ChromaIndex(EmbeddingIndex):
     def __init__(self, client: ChromaClientType, collection, kvstore: KVStore | None = None):
         self.client = client
         self.collection = collection
+        self.collection_name = collection.name
         self.kvstore = kvstore
 
     async def initialize(self):
-        pass
+        self.collection = await maybe_await(self.client.get_or_create_collection(self.collection_name))
 
     async def add_chunks(self, chunks: list[Chunk], embeddings: NDArray):
         assert len(chunks) == len(embeddings), (
@@ -106,7 +107,13 @@ class ChromaIndex(EmbeddingIndex):
         return QueryChunksResponse(chunks=chunks, scores=scores)
 
     async def delete(self):
-        await maybe_await(self.client.delete_collection(self.collection.name))
+        try:
+            await maybe_await(self.client.delete_collection(self.collection.name))
+        except Exception as e:
+            if "does not exists" in str(e):
+                log.warning(f"Collection {self.collection.name} already deleted")
+            else:
+                raise
 
     async def query_keyword(
         self,