diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index 1ac16bde5a..c7cf2d5d9c 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -415,4 +415,10 @@ void git_qsort(void *base, size_t nmemb, size_t size,
 #define fstat_is_reliable() 1
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * Preserves errno, prints a message, but gives no warning for ENOENT.
+ * Always returns the return value of unlink(2).
+ */
+int unlink_or_warn(const char *path);
+
 #endif
diff --git a/wrapper.c b/wrapper.c
index d8efb1365a..7eb3218ee9 100644
--- a/wrapper.c
+++ b/wrapper.c
@@ -289,3 +289,19 @@ int odb_pack_keep(char *name, size_t namesz, unsigned char *sha1)
 	safe_create_leading_directories(name);
 	return open(name, O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_EXCL, 0600);
 }
+
+int unlink_or_warn(const char *file)
+{
+	int rc = unlink(file);
+
+	if (rc < 0) {
+		int err = errno;
+		if (ENOENT != err) {
+			warning("unable to unlink %s: %s",
+				file, strerror(errno));
+			errno = err;
+		}
+	}
+	return rc;
+}
+