diff --git a/docs/content/docs.md b/docs/content/docs.md
index eed34ed21..58fd75178 100644
--- a/docs/content/docs.md
+++ b/docs/content/docs.md
@@ -1786,6 +1786,28 @@ If the backend has a `--backend-upload-concurrency` setting (eg
 number of transfers instead if it is larger than the value of
 `--multi-thread-streams` or `--multi-thread-streams` isn't set.
 
+### --no-block-rmdir CommaSepList ###
+
+Normally, rclone commands that remove empty dirs (including
+[`rmdir`](/commands/rclone_rmdir/), [`rmdirs`](/commands/rclone_rmdirs/),
+[`sync`](/commands/rclone_sync/), and [`bisync`](https://rclone.org/bisync/))
+will silently fail to remove dirs if those dirs contain files that are excluded
+by filters. This can pose a problem for some automatically created system
+files, such as `.DS_Store` on macOS, which users often prefer to exclude from
+syncs -- including them makes for noisy logs, but excluding them can make it
+impossible to remove otherwise empty directories. The `--no-block-rmdir` flag
+allows specifying a comma-separated list of such files which rclone should
+consider "disposable" if they block removal of otherwise empty directories.
+When set, if rclone fails to remove a directory, it will check the contents of
+the directory (ignoring any filters.) If the directory contains ONLY files on
+the disposable list, rclone will delete the files and then remove the directory.
+
+Note that `--no-block-rmdir` does not automatically filter such files, nor is it
+limited to excluded files. If you want these files excluded, you still have to
+apply a filter rule, as usual.
+
+Example: `--no-block-rmdir ".DS_Store,deleteme.tmp"`
+
 ### --no-check-dest ###
 
 The `--no-check-dest` can be used with `move` or `copy` and it causes
diff --git a/fs/config.go b/fs/config.go
index caf242fdf..1cdbf77e3 100644
--- a/fs/config.go
+++ b/fs/config.go
@@ -635,6 +635,7 @@ type ConfigInfo struct {
 	Inplace                    bool              `config:"inplace"`      // Download directly to destination file instead of atomic download to temp/rename
 	PartialSuffix              string            `config:"partial_suffix"`
 	MetadataMapper             SpaceSepList      `config:"metadata_mapper"`
+	NoBlockRmdir               CommaSepList      `config:"no_block_rmdir"`
 }
 
 func init() {
diff --git a/fs/operations/operations.go b/fs/operations/operations.go
index f14ecb61e..72492f106 100644
--- a/fs/operations/operations.go
+++ b/fs/operations/operations.go
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/fserrors"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/fshttp"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/hash"
+	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/list"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/object"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/walk"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/lib/atexit"
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/lib/pacer"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/lib/random"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/lib/readers"
+	"golang.org/x/exp/slices" // replace with slices after go1.21 is the minimum version
 	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
 	"golang.org/x/text/unicode/norm"
 )
@@ -1126,7 +1128,26 @@ func TryRmdir(ctx context.Context, f fs.Fs, dir string) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 	fs.Infof(fs.LogDirName(f, dir), "Removing directory")
-	return f.Rmdir(ctx, dir)
+	err := f.Rmdir(ctx, dir)
+	ci := fs.GetConfig(ctx)
+	if len(ci.NoBlockRmdir) == 0 || err == nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	entries, err := list.DirSorted(ctx, f, true, dir) // includeAll to ignore filters here
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	for _, entry := range entries {
+		obj, ok := entry.(fs.Object)
+		if ok {
+			basename := path.Base(obj.Remote())
+			if !slices.Contains(ci.NoBlockRmdir, basename) {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%s: Cannot remove directory due to un-ignorable file: %s", dir, basename)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	// directory contains nothing but deletable files
+	return Purge(ctx, f, dir)
 }
 
 // Rmdir removes a container but not if not empty
@@ -1464,6 +1485,10 @@ func Rmdirs(ctx context.Context, f fs.Fs, dir string, leaveRoot bool) error {
 					dirEmpty[dir] = true
 				}
 			case fs.Object:
+				if len(ci.NoBlockRmdir) > 0 && slices.Contains(ci.NoBlockRmdir, path.Base(x.Remote())) {
+					fs.Debugf(x.Remote(), "found in --no-block-rmdir list, ignoring")
+					continue
+				}
 				// mark the parents of the file as being non-empty
 				dir := x.Remote()
 				for dir != "" {
diff --git a/fs/operations/operations_test.go b/fs/operations/operations_test.go
index 96ce5704a..50d2553cf 100644
--- a/fs/operations/operations_test.go
+++ b/fs/operations/operations_test.go
@@ -811,6 +811,35 @@ func TestRmdirsWithFilter(t *testing.T) {
 	)
 }
 
+func TestNoBlockRmdir(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	r := fstest.NewRun(t)
+	r.Mkdir(ctx, r.Fremote)
+
+	r.ForceMkdir(ctx, r.Fremote)
+
+	file1 := r.WriteObject(ctx, "A1/B1/C1/.DS_Store", "delete me", t2)
+	file2 := r.WriteObject(ctx, "A2/B2/C2/Important-File", "keep me", t2)
+
+	r.CheckRemoteItems(t, file1, file2)
+
+	ctx, fi := filter.AddConfig(ctx)
+	require.NoError(t, fi.AddRule("- .DS_Store"))
+	ci := fs.GetConfig(ctx)
+	ci.NoBlockRmdir = []string{".DS_Store"}
+
+	require.NoError(t, operations.Rmdir(ctx, r.Fremote, "A1/B1/C1"))
+	require.Error(t, operations.Rmdir(ctx, r.Fremote, "A2/B2/C2"))
+	r.CheckRemoteItems(t, file2)
+
+	file1 = r.WriteObject(ctx, "A1/B1/C1/.DS_Store", "delete me", t2)
+	r.CheckRemoteItems(t, file1, file2)
+
+	require.NoError(t, operations.Rmdirs(ctx, r.Fremote, "A1", false))
+	require.NoError(t, operations.Rmdirs(ctx, r.Fremote, "A2", false)) // Rmdirs does not return errors for non-empty
+	r.CheckRemoteItems(t, file2)
+}
+
 func TestCopyURL(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	ctx, ci := fs.AddConfig(ctx)