diff --git a/builtin/rm.c b/builtin/rm.c
index dabfcf6890..7b91d52f39 100644
--- a/builtin/rm.c
+++ b/builtin/rm.c
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ static int check_local_mod(unsigned char *head, int index_only)
 		ce = active_cache[pos];
 
 		if (lstat(ce->name, &st) < 0) {
-			if (errno != ENOENT)
+			if (errno != ENOENT && errno != ENOTDIR)
 				warning("'%s': %s", ce->name, strerror(errno));
 			/* It already vanished from the working tree */
 			continue;
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index 1e42b2b150..91cfd99671 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -1647,7 +1647,7 @@ int remove_path(const char *name)
 {
 	char *slash;
 
-	if (unlink(name) && errno != ENOENT)
+	if (unlink(name) && errno != ENOENT && errno != ENOTDIR)
 		return -1;
 
 	slash = strrchr(name, '/');
diff --git a/t/t3600-rm.sh b/t/t3600-rm.sh
index 37bf5f13b0..0c44e9f5d0 100755
--- a/t/t3600-rm.sh
+++ b/t/t3600-rm.sh
@@ -622,4 +622,69 @@ test_expect_success 'rm of a populated nested submodule with a nested .git direc
 	rm -rf submod
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'rm of d/f when d has become a non-directory' '
+	rm -rf d &&
+	mkdir d &&
+	>d/f &&
+	git add d &&
+	rm -rf d &&
+	>d &&
+	git rm d/f &&
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse --verify :d/f &&
+	test_path_is_file d
+'
+
+test_expect_success SYMLINKS 'rm of d/f when d has become a dangling symlink' '
+	rm -rf d &&
+	mkdir d &&
+	>d/f &&
+	git add d &&
+	rm -rf d &&
+	ln -s nonexistent d &&
+	git rm d/f &&
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse --verify :d/f &&
+	test -h d &&
+	test_path_is_missing d
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'rm of file when it has become a directory' '
+	rm -rf d &&
+	>d &&
+	git add d &&
+	rm -f d &&
+	mkdir d &&
+	>d/f &&
+	test_must_fail git rm d &&
+	git rev-parse --verify :d &&
+	test_path_is_file d/f
+'
+
+test_expect_success SYMLINKS 'rm across a symlinked leading path (no index)' '
+	rm -rf d e &&
+	mkdir e &&
+	echo content >e/f &&
+	ln -s e d &&
+	git add -A e d &&
+	git commit -m "symlink d to e, e/f exists" &&
+	test_must_fail git rm d/f &&
+	git rev-parse --verify :d &&
+	git rev-parse --verify :e/f &&
+	test -h d &&
+	test_path_is_file e/f
+'
+
+test_expect_failure SYMLINKS 'rm across a symlinked leading path (w/ index)' '
+	rm -rf d e &&
+	mkdir d &&
+	echo content >d/f &&
+	git add -A e d &&
+	git commit -m "d/f exists" &&
+	mv d e &&
+	ln -s e d &&
+	test_must_fail git rm d/f &&
+	git rev-parse --verify :d/f &&
+	test -h d &&
+	test_path_is_file e/f
+'
+
 test_done