diff --git a/gio/gio-tool-trash.c b/gio/gio-tool-trash.c
index 4f9e3668a..3be63a9b7 100644
--- a/gio/gio-tool-trash.c
+++ b/gio/gio-tool-trash.c
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ delete_trash_file (GFile *file, gboolean del_file, gboolean del_children)
   GFile *child;
   GFileEnumerator *enumerator;
 
+  g_return_if_fail (g_file_has_uri_scheme (file, "trash"));
+
   if (del_children)
     {
       enumerator = g_file_enumerate_children (file,
@@ -53,7 +55,14 @@ delete_trash_file (GFile *file, gboolean del_file, gboolean del_children)
           while ((info = g_file_enumerator_next_file (enumerator, NULL, NULL)) != NULL)
             {
               child = g_file_get_child (file, g_file_info_get_name (info));
-              delete_trash_file (child, TRUE, g_file_info_get_file_type (info) == G_FILE_TYPE_DIRECTORY);
+
+              /* The g_file_delete operation works differently for locations
+               * provided by the trash backend as it prevents modifications of
+               * trashed items. For that reason, it is enough to call
+               * g_file_delete on top-level items only.
+               */
+              delete_trash_file (child, TRUE, FALSE);
+
               g_object_unref (child);
               g_object_unref (info);
             }