diff --git a/src/libstore/gc.cc b/src/libstore/gc.cc
index a6b1a35e77..113a7da154 100644
--- a/src/libstore/gc.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/gc.cc
@@ -659,7 +659,10 @@ void LocalStore::collectGarbage(const GCOptions & options, GCResults & results)
        increase, since we hold locks on everything.  So everything
        that is not reachable from `roots'. */
 
-    if (state.shouldDelete) createDirs(state.trashDir);
+    if (state.shouldDelete) {
+        if (pathExists(state.trashDir)) deleteGarbage(state, state.trashDir);
+        createDirs(state.trashDir);
+    }
 
     /* Now either delete all garbage paths, or just the specified
        paths (for gcDeleteSpecific). */