2 files changed, 10 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.cc b/src/libutil/util.cc
index def0525abc18..3becbbabc2bf 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/util.cc
@@ -320,9 +320,11 @@ static void _deletePath(const Path & path, unsigned long long & bytesFreed)
 {
     checkInterrupt();
 
-    printMsg(lvlVomit, format("%1%") % path);
-
-    struct stat st = lstat(path);
+    struct stat st;
+    if (lstat(path.c_str(), &st) == -1) {
+        if (errno == ENOENT) return;
+        throw SysError(format("getting status of ‘%1%’") % path);
+    }
 
     if (!S_ISDIR(st.st_mode) && st.st_nlink == 1)
         bytesFreed += st.st_blocks * 512;
@@ -338,8 +340,10 @@ static void _deletePath(const Path & path, unsigned long long & bytesFreed)
             _deletePath(path + "/" + i.name, bytesFreed);
     }
 
-    if (remove(path.c_str()) == -1)
+    if (remove(path.c_str()) == -1) {
+        if (errno == ENOENT) return;
         throw SysError(format("cannot unlink ‘%1%’") % path);
+    }
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.hh b/src/libutil/util.hh
index 9eebb67fdf3a..3606f6ec9eb2 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/util.hh
@@ -92,8 +92,8 @@ string readLine(int fd);
 void writeLine(int fd, string s);
 
 /* Delete a path; i.e., in the case of a directory, it is deleted
-   recursively.  Don't use this at home, kids.  The second variant
-   returns the number of bytes and blocks freed. */
+   recursively. It's not an error if the path does not exist. The
+   second variant returns the number of bytes and blocks freed. */
 void deletePath(const Path & path);
 
 void deletePath(const Path & path, unsigned long long & bytesFreed);