diff --git a/libs/pbd/file_utils.cc b/libs/pbd/file_utils.cc
index 7d8da7906c..164c3fd92e 100644
--- a/libs/pbd/file_utils.cc
+++ b/libs/pbd/file_utils.cc
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ remove_directory_internal (const string& dir, size_t* size, vector<string>* path
 	for (vector<string>::const_iterator i = tmp_paths.begin();
 			i != tmp_paths.end(); ++i) {
 
-		if (g_stat (i->c_str(), &statbuf)) {
+		if (g_stat (i->c_str(), &statbuf) && g_lstat (i->c_str(), &statbuf)) {
 			continue;
 		}