diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index 67c3af6a1a..133c333df6 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -1044,7 +1044,7 @@ int remove_path(const char *name)
 		slash = dirs + (slash - name);
 		do {
 			*slash = '\0';
-		} while (rmdir(dirs) && (slash = strrchr(dirs, '/')));
+		} while (rmdir(dirs) == 0 && (slash = strrchr(dirs, '/')));
 		free(dirs);
 	}
 	return 0;
diff --git a/t/t3600-rm.sh b/t/t3600-rm.sh
index 76b1bb4545..0aaf0ad84b 100755
--- a/t/t3600-rm.sh
+++ b/t/t3600-rm.sh
@@ -271,4 +271,12 @@ test_expect_success 'choking "git rm" should not let it die with cruft' '
 	test "$status" != 0
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'rm removes subdirectories recursively' '
+	mkdir -p dir/subdir/subsubdir &&
+	echo content >dir/subdir/subsubdir/file &&
+	git add dir/subdir/subsubdir/file &&
+	git rm -f dir/subdir/subsubdir/file &&
+	! test -d dir
+'
+
 test_done