diff --git a/lib/core/purge.py b/lib/core/purge.py
index 345655032..007822de5 100644
--- a/lib/core/purge.py
+++ b/lib/core/purge.py
@@ -75,4 +75,8 @@ def purge(directory):
 
     logger.debug("deleting the whole directory tree")
     os.chdir(os.path.join(directory, ".."))
-    shutil.rmtree(directory)
+
+    try:
+        shutil.rmtree(directory)
+    except OSError, ex:
+        logger.error("problem occurred while removing directory '%s' ('%s')" % (directory, ex))