diff --git a/merge-recursive.c b/merge-recursive.c
index 195ebf974..87232b899 100644
--- a/merge-recursive.c
+++ b/merge-recursive.c
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ static int remove_file(struct merge_options *o, int clean,
 			return -1;
 	}
 	if (update_working_directory) {
-		if (remove_path(path) && errno != ENOENT)
+		if (remove_path(path))
 			return -1;
 	}
 	return 0;