diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/AbstractRemoteActionCache.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/AbstractRemoteActionCache.java
index 009eddb9913447..1cd1ef99228ac7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/AbstractRemoteActionCache.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/AbstractRemoteActionCache.java
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ public void download(ActionResult result, Path execRoot, FileOutErr outErr)
           execRoot.getRelative(file.getPath()).delete();
         }
         for (OutputDirectory directory : result.getOutputDirectoriesList()) {
-          execRoot.getRelative(directory.getPath()).delete();
+          FileSystemUtils.deleteTree(execRoot.getRelative(directory.getPath()));
         }
         if (outErr != null) {
           outErr.getOutputPath().delete();