diff --git a/src/lxc/utils.c b/src/lxc/utils.c
index 7ced31487..0b83960b1 100644
--- a/src/lxc/utils.c
+++ b/src/lxc/utils.c
@@ -197,6 +197,8 @@ extern int lxc_rmdir_onedev(char *path, const char *exclude)
 	}
 
 	if (lstat(path, &mystat) < 0) {
+		if (errno == ENOENT)
+			return 0;
 		ERROR("%s: failed to stat %s", __func__, path);
 		return -1;
 	}