new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/liboctave/rmdir.c
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+/* rmdir.c -- BSD compatible remove directory function for System V
+   Copyright (C) 1988, 1990 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+
+   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
+   any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+   along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+   Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.  */
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include <config.h>
+#endif
+
+#ifndef HAVE_RMDIR
+
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+
+#include <errno.h>
+#ifndef errno
+extern int errno;
+#endif
+
+#ifdef STAT_MACROS_BROKEN
+#undef S_ISDIR
+#endif
+
+#if !defined(S_ISDIR) && defined(S_IFDIR)
+#define S_ISDIR(m) (((m) & S_IFMT) == S_IFDIR)
+#endif
+
+#include "safe-stat.h"
+
+/* rmdir adapted from GNU tar.  */
+
+/* Remove directory DPATH.
+   Return 0 if successful, -1 if not.  */
+
+int
+rmdir (dpath)
+     char *dpath;
+{
+  int cpid, status;
+  struct stat statbuf;
+
+  if (SAFE_STAT (dpath, &statbuf) != 0)
+    return -1;			/* errno already set */
+
+  if (!S_ISDIR (statbuf.st_mode))
+    {
+      errno = ENOTDIR;
+      return -1;
+    }
+
+  cpid = fork ();
+  switch (cpid)
+    {
+    case -1:			/* cannot fork */
+      return -1;		/* errno already set */
+
+    case 0:			/* child process */
+      execl ("/bin/rmdir", "rmdir", dpath, (char *) 0);
+      _exit (1);
+
+    default:			/* parent process */
+
+      /* Wait for kid to finish.  */
+
+      while (wait (&status) != cpid)
+	/* Do nothing.  */ ;
+
+      if (status & 0xFFFF)
+	{
+
+	  /* /bin/rmdir failed.  */
+
+	  errno = EIO;
+	  return -1;
+	}
+      return 0;
+    }
+}
+
+#endif