diff --git a/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageFileSystemProvider.java b/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageFileSystemProvider.java
index f65549b69fec..cc6ba9a12495 100644
--- a/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageFileSystemProvider.java
+++ b/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageFileSystemProvider.java
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 import java.nio.file.DirectoryStream.Filter;
 import java.nio.file.FileAlreadyExistsException;
 import java.nio.file.FileStore;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.LinkOption;
 import java.nio.file.NoSuchFileException;
 import java.nio.file.OpenOption;
@@ -351,6 +352,15 @@ public boolean deleteIfExists(Path path) throws IOException {
     initStorage();
     CloudStoragePath cloudPath = CloudStorageUtil.checkPath(path);
     if (cloudPath.seemsLikeADirectoryAndUsePseudoDirectories()) {
+      // if the "folder" is empty then we're fine, otherwise complain
+      // that we cannot act on folders.
+      try (DirectoryStream<Path> paths = Files.newDirectoryStream(path)) {
+        if (!paths.iterator().hasNext()) {
+          // "folder" isn't actually there in the first place, so: success!
+          // (we must return true so delete doesn't freak out)
+          return true;
+        }
+      }
       throw new CloudStoragePseudoDirectoryException(cloudPath);
     }
     return storage.delete(cloudPath.getBlobId());
diff --git a/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageFileSystemProviderTest.java b/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageFileSystemProviderTest.java
index 970d60217e57..1fcf4487d95a 100644
--- a/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageFileSystemProviderTest.java
+++ b/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageFileSystemProviderTest.java
@@ -413,7 +413,6 @@ public void testDelete_dotDirNotNormalized_throwsIae() throws IOException {
 
   @Test
   public void testDelete_trailingSlash() throws IOException {
-    thrown.expect(CloudStoragePseudoDirectoryException.class);
     Files.delete(Paths.get(URI.create("gs://love/passion/")));
   }
 
@@ -442,7 +441,6 @@ public void testDeleteIfExists() throws IOException {
 
   @Test
   public void testDeleteIfExists_trailingSlash() throws IOException {
-    thrown.expect(CloudStoragePseudoDirectoryException.class);
     Files.deleteIfExists(Paths.get(URI.create("gs://love/passion/")));
   }
 
diff --git a/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageFileSystemTest.java b/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageFileSystemTest.java
index d7d5b346c376..51607b6b7937 100644
--- a/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageFileSystemTest.java
+++ b/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/CloudStorageFileSystemTest.java
@@ -24,7 +24,9 @@
 import com.google.common.testing.NullPointerTester;
 
 import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.rules.ExpectedException;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
 import org.junit.runners.JUnit4;
 
@@ -38,6 +40,9 @@
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.nio.file.SimpleFileVisitor;
+import java.nio.file.FileVisitResult;
+import java.nio.file.attribute.BasicFileAttributes;
 
 /**
  * Unit tests for {@link CloudStorageFileSystem}.
@@ -55,6 +60,9 @@ public class CloudStorageFileSystemTest {
           + "The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks\n"
           + "That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation\n";
 
+  @Rule
+  public ExpectedException thrown = ExpectedException.none();
+
   @Before
   public void before() {
     CloudStorageFileSystemProvider.setStorageOptions(LocalStorageHelper.getOptions());
@@ -180,6 +188,117 @@ public void testMatcher() throws IOException {
     }
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testDeleteEmptyFolder() throws IOException {
+    try (FileSystem fs = CloudStorageFileSystem.forBucket("bucket")) {
+      List<Path> paths = new ArrayList<>();
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("dir/angel"));
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("dir/dir2/another_angel"));
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("atroot"));
+      for (Path path : paths) {
+        Files.write(path, ALONE.getBytes(UTF_8));
+      }
+      // we can delete non-existent folders, because they are not represented on disk anyways.
+      Files.delete(fs.getPath("ghost/"));
+      Files.delete(fs.getPath("dir/ghost/"));
+      Files.delete(fs.getPath("dir/dir2/ghost/"));
+      // likewise, deleteIfExists works.
+      Files.deleteIfExists(fs.getPath("ghost/"));
+      Files.deleteIfExists(fs.getPath("dir/ghost/"));
+      Files.deleteIfExists(fs.getPath("dir/dir2/ghost/"));
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testDeleteFullFolder() throws IOException {
+    thrown.expect(CloudStoragePseudoDirectoryException.class);
+    try (FileSystem fs = CloudStorageFileSystem.forBucket("bucket")) {
+      Files.write(fs.getPath("dir/angel"), ALONE.getBytes(UTF_8));
+      // we cannot delete existing folders if they contain something
+      Files.delete(fs.getPath("dir/"));
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testDelete() throws IOException {
+    try (FileSystem fs = CloudStorageFileSystem.forBucket("bucket")) {
+      List<Path> paths = new ArrayList<>();
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("dir/angel"));
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("dir/dir2/another_angel"));
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("atroot"));
+      for (Path path : paths) {
+        Files.write(path, ALONE.getBytes(UTF_8));
+      }
+      Files.delete(fs.getPath("atroot"));
+      Files.delete(fs.getPath("dir/angel"));
+      Files.deleteIfExists(fs.getPath("dir/dir2/another_angel"));
+
+      for (Path path : paths) {
+        assertThat(Files.exists(path)).isFalse();
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testDeleteEmptiedFolder() throws IOException {
+    try (FileSystem fs = CloudStorageFileSystem.forBucket("bucket")) {
+      List<Path> paths = new ArrayList<>();
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("dir/angel"));
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("dir/dir2/another_angel"));
+      for (Path path : paths) {
+        Files.write(path, ALONE.getBytes(UTF_8));
+      }
+      Files.delete(fs.getPath("dir/angel"));
+      Files.deleteIfExists(fs.getPath("dir/dir2/another_angel"));
+      // delete folder (trailing slash is required)
+      Path dir2 = fs.getPath("dir/dir2/");
+      Files.deleteIfExists(dir2);
+      Path dir = fs.getPath("dir/");
+      Files.deleteIfExists(dir);
+      // We can't check Files.exists on a folder (since GCS fakes folders)
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testDeleteRecursive() throws IOException {
+    try (FileSystem fs = CloudStorageFileSystem.forBucket("bucket")) {
+      List<Path> paths = new ArrayList<>();
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("atroot"));
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("dir/angel"));
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("dir/dir2/another_angel"));
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("dir/dir2/angel3"));
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("dir/dir3/cloud"));
+      for (Path path : paths) {
+        Files.write(path, ALONE.getBytes(UTF_8));
+      }
+
+      deleteRecursive(fs.getPath("dir/"));
+      assertThat(Files.exists(fs.getPath("dir/angel"))).isFalse();
+      assertThat(Files.exists(fs.getPath("dir/dir3/cloud"))).isFalse();
+      assertThat(Files.exists(fs.getPath("atroot"))).isTrue();
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Delete the given directory and all of its contents if non-empty.
+   * @param directory the directory to delete
+   * @throws IOException
+   */
+  private static void deleteRecursive(Path directory) throws IOException {
+    Files.walkFileTree(directory, new SimpleFileVisitor<Path>() {
+      @Override
+      public FileVisitResult visitFile(Path file, BasicFileAttributes attrs) throws IOException {
+        Files.delete(file);
+        return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
+      }
+      @Override
+      public FileVisitResult postVisitDirectory(Path dir, IOException exc) throws IOException {
+        Files.delete(dir);
+        return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
+      }
+    });
+  }
+
   private void assertMatches(FileSystem fs, PathMatcher matcher, String toMatch, boolean expected) {
     assertThat(matcher.matches(fs.getPath(toMatch).getFileName())).isEqualTo(expected);
   }
diff --git a/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/it/ITGcsNio.java b/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/it/ITGcsNio.java
index 602b2d7ff03f..7aba29c7cb37 100644
--- a/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/it/ITGcsNio.java
+++ b/google-cloud-contrib/google-cloud-nio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/contrib/nio/it/ITGcsNio.java
@@ -44,10 +44,13 @@
 import java.nio.channels.ReadableByteChannel;
 import java.nio.channels.SeekableByteChannel;
 import java.nio.file.FileSystem;
+import java.nio.file.FileVisitResult;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.NoSuchFileException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.SimpleFileVisitor;
 import java.nio.file.StandardOpenOption;
+import java.nio.file.attribute.BasicFileAttributes;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -354,6 +357,46 @@ public void testListFiles() throws IOException {
     }
   }
 
+
+  @Test
+  public void testDeleteRecursive() throws IOException {
+    try (FileSystem fs = getTestBucket()) {
+      List<Path> paths = new ArrayList<>();
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("Racine"));
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("playwrights/Moliere"));
+      paths.add(fs.getPath("playwrights/French/Corneille"));
+      for (Path path : paths) {
+        Files.write(path, FILE_CONTENTS, UTF_8);
+      }
+      deleteRecursive(fs.getPath("playwrights/"));
+      assertThat(Files.exists(fs.getPath("playwrights/Moliere"))).isFalse();
+      assertThat(Files.exists(fs.getPath("playwrights/French/Corneille"))).isFalse();
+      assertThat(Files.exists(fs.getPath("Racine"))).isTrue();
+      Files.deleteIfExists(fs.getPath("Racine"));
+      assertThat(Files.exists(fs.getPath("Racine"))).isFalse();
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Delete the given directory and all of its contents if non-empty.
+   * @param directory the directory to delete
+   * @throws IOException
+   */
+  private static void deleteRecursive(Path directory) throws IOException {
+    Files.walkFileTree(directory, new SimpleFileVisitor<Path>() {
+      @Override
+      public FileVisitResult visitFile(Path file, BasicFileAttributes attrs) throws IOException {
+        Files.delete(file);
+        return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
+      }
+      @Override
+      public FileVisitResult postVisitDirectory(Path dir, IOException exc) throws IOException {
+        Files.delete(dir);
+        return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
+      }
+    });
+  }
+
   private int readFully(ReadableByteChannel chan, byte[] outputBuf) throws IOException {
     ByteBuffer buf = ByteBuffer.wrap(outputBuf);
     int sofar = 0;