diff --git a/googlecloudstorage/googlecloudstorage.go b/googlecloudstorage/googlecloudstorage.go
index 86a054ee0..f16043fa9 100644
--- a/googlecloudstorage/googlecloudstorage.go
+++ b/googlecloudstorage/googlecloudstorage.go
@@ -407,11 +407,14 @@ func (f *Fs) Mkdir() error {
 	return err
 }
 
-// Rmdir deletes the bucket
+// Rmdir deletes the bucket if the fs is at the root
 //
 // Returns an error if it isn't empty: Error 409: The bucket you tried
 // to delete was not empty.
 func (f *Fs) Rmdir() error {
+	if f.root != "" {
+		return nil
+	}
 	return f.svc.Buckets.Delete(f.bucket).Do()
 }
 
diff --git a/s3/s3.go b/s3/s3.go
index fc97c7de5..99a5a310e 100644
--- a/s3/s3.go
+++ b/s3/s3.go
@@ -487,10 +487,13 @@ func (f *Fs) Mkdir() error {
 	return err
 }
 
-// Rmdir deletes the bucket
+// Rmdir deletes the bucket if the fs is at the root
 //
 // Returns an error if it isn't empty
 func (f *Fs) Rmdir() error {
+	if f.root != "" {
+		return nil
+	}
 	req := s3.DeleteBucketInput{
 		Bucket: &f.bucket,
 	}
diff --git a/swift/swift.go b/swift/swift.go
index d48074346..eb6d0db2e 100644
--- a/swift/swift.go
+++ b/swift/swift.go
@@ -371,10 +371,13 @@ func (f *Fs) Mkdir() error {
 	return f.c.ContainerCreate(f.container, nil)
 }
 
-// Rmdir deletes the container
+// Rmdir deletes the container if the fs is at the root
 //
 // Returns an error if it isn't empty
 func (f *Fs) Rmdir() error {
+	if f.root != "" {
+		return nil
+	}
 	return f.c.ContainerDelete(f.container)
 }