diff --git a/Source/cmcmd.cxx b/Source/cmcmd.cxx
index 0832e2fa59..fbbd47cd25 100644
--- a/Source/cmcmd.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmcmd.cxx
@@ -676,10 +676,17 @@ int cmcmd::ExecuteCMakeCommand(std::vector<std::string> const& args)
       // If an error occurs, we want to continue removing directories.
       bool return_value = false;
       for (auto const& arg : cmMakeRange(args).advance(2)) {
-        if (cmSystemTools::FileIsDirectory(arg) &&
-            !cmSystemTools::RemoveADirectory(arg)) {
-          std::cerr << "Error removing directory \"" << arg << "\".\n";
-          return_value = true;
+        if (cmSystemTools::FileIsDirectory(arg)) {
+          if (cmSystemTools::FileIsSymlink(arg)) {
+            if (!cmSystemTools::RemoveFile(arg)) {
+              std::cerr << "Error removing directory symlink \"" << arg
+                        << "\".\n";
+              return_value = true;
+            }
+          } else if (!cmSystemTools::RemoveADirectory(arg)) {
+            std::cerr << "Error removing directory \"" << arg << "\".\n";
+            return_value = true;
+          }
         }
       }
       return return_value;
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_remove_directory-symlink-dir-check.cmake b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_remove_directory-symlink-dir-check.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f70312c46b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_remove_directory-symlink-dir-check.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+if(EXISTS ${out}/link_dir)
+  set(RunCMake_TEST_FAILED "did not remove ${out}/link_dir")
+endif()
+if(NOT EXISTS ${out}/dir)
+  set(RunCMake_TEST_FAILED "should not have removed ${out}/dir")
+endif()
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_remove_directory-symlink-dir-stderr.txt b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_remove_directory-symlink-dir-stderr.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_remove_directory-symlink-file-check.cmake b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_remove_directory-symlink-file-check.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..23d7c6d85d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_remove_directory-symlink-file-check.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+if(NOT EXISTS ${outfile})
+  set(RunCMake_TEST_FAILED "removed non-directory ${outfile}")
+endif()
+if(NOT EXISTS ${out}/link_file_for_test.txt)
+  set(RunCMake_TEST_FAILED "removed non-directory symlink ${out}/link_file_for_test.txt")
+endif()
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_remove_directory-symlink-file-stderr.txt b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_remove_directory-symlink-file-stderr.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/RunCMakeTest.cmake b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/RunCMakeTest.cmake
index dd494231ee..2bc5966453 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/RunCMakeTest.cmake
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/RunCMakeTest.cmake
@@ -348,6 +348,17 @@ run_cmake_command(E_make_directory-two-directories-and-file
   ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E make_directory ${out}/d1 ${out}/d2 ${outfile})
 run_cmake_command(E_remove_directory-two-directories-and-file
   ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E remove_directory ${out}/d1 ${out}/d2 ${outfile})
+
+if(UNIX)
+  file(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${out}/dir)
+  file(CREATE_LINK ${out}/dir ${out}/link_dir SYMBOLIC)
+  file(CREATE_LINK ${outfile} ${out}/link_file_for_test.txt SYMBOLIC)
+  run_cmake_command(E_remove_directory-symlink-dir
+    ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E remove_directory ${out}/link_dir)
+  run_cmake_command(E_remove_directory-symlink-file
+    ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E remove_directory ${out}/link_file_for_test.txt)
+endif()
+
 unset(out)
 unset(outfile)