Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran's transfer from Bali's Kerobokan jail has been delayed while Indonesian authorities build more cells to hold them on their island of execution.
The cells where Chan, Sukumaran and others will await their execution on Nusakambangan island are at capacity as five other prisoners are already there waiting to face the firing squad.
One day after Bali authorities declared they would this week take the Australian drug smugglers to Nusakambangan for their execution, the situation changed again.
Tony Spontana, spokesman for Attorney-General HM Prasetyo, says a team inspected the island's isolation cells and realised there wasn't enough space.
Mr Spontana insists there's no alteration or delay in the plan to execute the drug felons.
But he couldn't say how long it would take to make the required renovations to the cells.
"This week, I think we can't do the transfers because the isolation cells and other things are not ready," he told reporters.
"And at the same time, we can facilitate the Australian government and convicts' families' request to give more time for them together before they have to go to Nusakambangan."
Lawyers for the Sydney men will hope it means their clients will still be alive next Tuesday, when they have a day in court.
In a rare move, they are challenging in the administrative court President Joko Widodo's blanket ban on clemency for Chan, Sukumaran and all death row drug offenders.
They argue it fails to judge individual cases on their merits. Lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis on Monday appealed for Mr Prasetyo to halt plans to move the men and to wait for the legal challenge, for the sake of fairness.
But Mr Spontana said plans to execute them have not changed.
"All that's changed is the transfer plan, which was scheduled to be finished this week."
At Kerobokan prison on Tuesday, Sukumaran's sister Brintha and other relatives removed several large bags of books, some of them on art and painting.
Prison governor Sudjonggo said the district police chief met him on Tuesday to check on security arrangements for the transfer and found all was ready.
The prisoners will get 72 hours notice of their execution.
Mr Prasetyo plans to announce the execution date once Chan, Sukumaran and other prisoners to face the firing squad are secured on the island known as Indonesia's Alcatraz.
He had wanted them all to be executed at the same time.
Mr Spontana says the delay will also allow time for a Brazilian prisoner, Rodrigo Gularte, to have a second medical examination.
Lawyers for Gularte say he suffers a mental illness, but Mr Spontana said the examination was at the request of Nusakambangan prison authorities, not the drug smuggler's representatives.
President Joko insists the Bali Nine duo and other drug offenders sentenced to death should be executed to shock the nation out of a "drugs emergency".
Barrister Julian McMahon said the delay meant the legal proceedings for Chan and Sukumaran could go on without unnecessary haste.
"That's a welcome relief, it takes away the sense of urgency," he told reporters in Bali.
"It enables my clients to get back to doing what they've been doing for years now which is their work in rehabilitation and helping other prisoners.
"If there is any delay, however slight, that's welcome news."
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