diff --git a/plugin/makecols.vim b/plugin/makecols.vim
index 10aed55..d6da659 100644
--- a/plugin/makecols.vim
+++ b/plugin/makecols.vim
@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@ function! s:beep()
 endfunction
 
 function! s:get_visual_selection()
-    " Why is this not a built-in Vim script function?!
     let [lnum1, col1] = getpos("'<")[1:2]
     let [lnum2, col2] = getpos("'>")[1:2]
     let lines = getline(lnum1, lnum2)
     " let lines[-1] = lines[-1][: col2 - (&selection == 'inclusive' ? 1 : 2)]
     " let lines[0] = lines[0][col1 - 1:]
+    execute lnum1 . "," . lnum2 . "delete"
     let selection = join(lines, ",")
     return selection
 endfunction
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ endfunction
 
 function! s:convert_selection(selection)
     " Remove the current selection
-    execute lnum1 . "," . lnum2 . "delete"
     " Setup some variables
     let c = 0
     let selection = a:selection