diff --git a/builtin-merge-recursive.c b/builtin-merge-recursive.c
index 43e55bf901..f628a62751 100644
--- a/builtin-merge-recursive.c
+++ b/builtin-merge-recursive.c
@@ -444,10 +444,8 @@ static int remove_file(int clean, const char *path, int no_wd)
 			return -1;
 	}
 	if (update_working_directory) {
-		unlink(path);
-		if (errno != ENOENT || errno != EISDIR)
+		if (remove_path(path) && errno != ENOENT)
 			return -1;
-		remove_path(path);
 	}
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/t/t3030-merge-recursive.sh b/t/t3030-merge-recursive.sh
index de0cdb1cf4..0de613dc53 100755
--- a/t/t3030-merge-recursive.sh
+++ b/t/t3030-merge-recursive.sh
@@ -535,4 +535,15 @@ test_expect_success 'reset and bind merge' '
 
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'merge removes empty directories' '
+
+	git reset --hard master &&
+	git checkout -b rm &&
+	git rm d/e &&
+	git commit -mremoved-d/e &&
+	git checkout master &&
+	git merge -s recursive rm &&
+	test_must_fail test -d d
+'
+
 test_done