diff --git a/cde/doc/en_US.UTF-8/guides/Makefile.am b/cde/doc/en_US.UTF-8/guides/Makefile.am
index 776dc50c4..c07f3dd97 100644
--- a/cde/doc/en_US.UTF-8/guides/Makefile.am
+++ b/cde/doc/en_US.UTF-8/guides/Makefile.am
@@ -73,5 +73,5 @@ CLEANFILES += $(cdedti_DATA) $(cdedtidoc_DATA) $(cdedtidocsearch_DATA)
 
 # link the en_US.UTF-8 version to C
 install-data-hook:
-	$(RM) $(DESTDIR)$(CDE_INSTALLATION_TOP)/infolib/C
+	$(RM) -rf $(DESTDIR)$(CDE_INSTALLATION_TOP)/infolib/C
 	cd $(DESTDIR)$(CDE_INSTALLATION_TOP)/infolib && $(LN_S) en_US.UTF-8 C
diff --git a/cde/doc/en_US.UTF-8/help/Makefile.am b/cde/doc/en_US.UTF-8/help/Makefile.am
index b9f15fac3..898dc0676 100644
--- a/cde/doc/en_US.UTF-8/help/Makefile.am
+++ b/cde/doc/en_US.UTF-8/help/Makefile.am
@@ -13,5 +13,5 @@ include $(top_srcdir)/doc/common/help/sdl-data.am
 
 # need to setup a symlink for the C locale to point toward en_US
 install-data-hook:
-	$(RM) $(DESTDIR)$(CDE_INSTALLATION_TOP)/appconfig/help/C
+	$(RM) -rf $(DESTDIR)$(CDE_INSTALLATION_TOP)/appconfig/help/C
 	cd $(DESTDIR)$(CDE_INSTALLATION_TOP)/appconfig/help/ && $(LN_S) en_US.UTF-8 C
diff --git a/cde/programs/localized/C/msg/Makefile.am b/cde/programs/localized/C/msg/Makefile.am
index 4d1730ce4..bade8fa17 100644
--- a/cde/programs/localized/C/msg/Makefile.am
+++ b/cde/programs/localized/C/msg/Makefile.am
@@ -5,5 +5,5 @@ include ../../templates/msg.C.am
 
 # Setup a symlink from C -> en_US.UTF-8
 install-data-hook:
-	$(RM) $(DESTDIR)$(CDE_INSTALLATION_TOP)/lib/nls/msg/en_US.UTF-8
+	$(RM) -rf $(DESTDIR)$(CDE_INSTALLATION_TOP)/lib/nls/msg/en_US.UTF-8
 	cd $(DESTDIR)$(CDE_INSTALLATION_TOP)/lib/nls/msg/ && $(LN_S) C en_US.UTF-8