diff --git a/src/util-files.h b/src/util-files.h
index 0cb51b15..a61358c4 100644
--- a/src/util-files.h
+++ b/src/util-files.h
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include "config.h"
 
 #include <errno.h>
+#include <dirent.h>
 #include <libgen.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
@@ -54,6 +55,38 @@ mkdir_p(const char *dir)
 	return (rc == -1 && errno != EEXIST) ? -errno : 0;
 }
 
+DEFINE_TRIVIAL_CLEANUP_FUNC(DIR*, closedir);
+
+static inline int
+rmdir_r(const char *dir)
+{
+	_cleanup_(closedirp) DIR *d = opendir(dir);
+	if (!d)
+		return -errno;
+
+	struct dirent *entry;
+	int rc = 0;
+
+	while (rc >= 0 && (entry = readdir(d))) {
+		if (streq(entry->d_name, ".") || streq(entry->d_name, ".."))
+			continue;
+
+		_autofree_ char *path = strdup_printf("%s/%s", dir, entry->d_name);
+
+		struct stat st;
+		if (stat(path, &st) < 0)
+			return -errno;
+
+		if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))
+			rc = rmdir_r(path);
+		else
+			rc = unlink(path) < 0 ? -errno : 0;
+	}
+	rc = rmdir(dir) < 0 ? -errno : rc;
+
+	return rc;
+}
+
 static inline void
 xclose(int *fd)
 {
diff --git a/test/test-utils.c b/test/test-utils.c
index 91775268..cbbff6ed 100644
--- a/test/test-utils.c
+++ b/test/test-utils.c
@@ -75,6 +75,44 @@ START_TEST(mkdir_p_test)
 }
 END_TEST
 
+START_TEST(rmdir_r_test)
+{
+	const char *testdir = "/tmp/litest_rmdir_test";
+	_autofree_ char *path = strdup_printf("%s/foo/bar/baz", testdir);
+	mkdir_p(path);
+
+	_autofree_ char *f1 = strdup_printf("%s/remain", testdir);
+	_autofree_ char *f2 = strdup_printf("%s/foo/remove", testdir);
+	_autofree_ char *f3 = strdup_printf("%s/foo/bar/to-remove", testdir);
+	_autofree_ char *f4 = strdup_printf("%s/foo/bar/baz/wipeme", testdir);
+
+	litest_assert_errno_success(close(open(f1, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT, 0644)));
+	litest_assert_errno_success(close(open(f2, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT, 0644)));
+	litest_assert_errno_success(close(open(f3, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT, 0644)));
+	litest_assert_errno_success(close(open(f4, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT, 0644)));
+
+	struct stat st;
+	litest_assert_errno_success(stat(f1, &st));
+	litest_assert_errno_success(stat(f2, &st));
+	litest_assert_errno_success(stat(f3, &st));
+	litest_assert_errno_success(stat(f4, &st));
+
+	_autofree_ char *rmpath = strdup_printf("%s/foo/", testdir);
+	int rc = rmdir_r(rmpath);
+	litest_assert_neg_errno_success(rc);
+
+	litest_assert_errno_success(stat(f1, &st));
+	litest_assert_errno_success(stat(testdir, &st));
+
+	rc = stat(f2, &st) < 0 ? -errno : 0;
+	litest_assert_int_eq(rc, -ENOENT);
+	rc = stat(f3, &st) < 0 ? -errno : 0;
+	litest_assert_int_eq(rc, -ENOENT);
+	rc = stat(f4, &st) < 0 ? -errno : 0;
+	litest_assert_int_eq(rc, -ENOENT);
+}
+END_TEST
+
 START_TEST(find_files_test)
 {
 	_autofree_ char *dirname = strdup("/tmp/litest_find_files_test.XXXXXX");
@@ -2406,6 +2444,7 @@ int main(void)
 
 	ADD_TEST(auto_test);
 	ADD_TEST(mkdir_p_test);
+	ADD_TEST(rmdir_r_test);
 	ADD_TEST(find_files_test);
 
 	ADD_TEST(array_for_each);