diff --git a/registry/handlers/app.go b/registry/handlers/app.go
index a40a4df3..76c63080 100644
--- a/registry/handlers/app.go
+++ b/registry/handlers/app.go
@@ -58,10 +58,11 @@ type App struct {
 
 	Config *configuration.Configuration
 
-	router           *mux.Router                 // main application router, configured with dispatchers
-	driver           storagedriver.StorageDriver // driver maintains the app global storage driver instance.
-	registry         distribution.Namespace      // registry is the primary registry backend for the app instance.
-	accessController auth.AccessController       // main access controller for application
+	router           *mux.Router                    // main application router, configured with dispatchers
+	driver           storagedriver.StorageDriver    // driver maintains the app global storage driver instance.
+	registry         distribution.Namespace         // registry is the primary registry backend for the app instance.
+	repoRemover      distribution.RepositoryRemover // repoRemover provides ability to delete repos
+	accessController auth.AccessController          // main access controller for application
 
 	// httpHost is a parsed representation of the http.host parameter from
 	// the configuration. Only the Scheme and Host fields are used.
@@ -320,6 +321,11 @@ func NewApp(ctx context.Context, config *configuration.Configuration) *App {
 		app.isCache = true
 		dcontext.GetLogger(app).Info("Registry configured as a proxy cache to ", config.Proxy.RemoteURL)
 	}
+	var ok bool
+	app.repoRemover, ok = app.registry.(distribution.RepositoryRemover)
+	if !ok {
+		dcontext.GetLogger(app).Warnf("Registry does not implement RempositoryRemover. Will not be able to delete repos and tags")
+	}
 
 	return app
 }
@@ -696,8 +702,9 @@ func (app *App) dispatcher(dispatch dispatchFunc) http.Handler {
 			}
 
 			// assign and decorate the authorized repository with an event bridge.
-			context.Repository = notifications.Listen(
+			context.Repository, context.App.repoRemover = notifications.Listen(
 				repository,
+				context.App.repoRemover,
 				app.eventBridge(context, r))
 
 			context.Repository, err = applyRepoMiddleware(app, context.Repository, app.Config.Middleware["repository"])