diff --git a/internal/restorer/filerestorer.go b/internal/restorer/filerestorer.go
index fd5b3c5db..56059cb16 100644
--- a/internal/restorer/filerestorer.go
+++ b/internal/restorer/filerestorer.go
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ type fileRestorer struct {
 	sparse      bool
 	progress    *restore.Progress
 
+	allowRecursiveDelete bool
+
 	dst   string
 	files []*fileInfo
 	Error func(string, error) error
@@ -63,21 +65,23 @@ func newFileRestorer(dst string,
 	idx func(restic.BlobType, restic.ID) []restic.PackedBlob,
 	connections uint,
 	sparse bool,
+	allowRecursiveDelete bool,
 	progress *restore.Progress) *fileRestorer {
 
 	// as packs are streamed the concurrency is limited by IO
 	workerCount := int(connections)
 
 	return &fileRestorer{
-		idx:         idx,
-		blobsLoader: blobsLoader,
-		filesWriter: newFilesWriter(workerCount),
-		zeroChunk:   repository.ZeroChunk(),
-		sparse:      sparse,
-		progress:    progress,
-		workerCount: workerCount,
-		dst:         dst,
-		Error:       restorerAbortOnAllErrors,
+		idx:                  idx,
+		blobsLoader:          blobsLoader,
+		filesWriter:          newFilesWriter(workerCount, allowRecursiveDelete),
+		zeroChunk:            repository.ZeroChunk(),
+		sparse:               sparse,
+		progress:             progress,
+		allowRecursiveDelete: allowRecursiveDelete,
+		workerCount:          workerCount,
+		dst:                  dst,
+		Error:                restorerAbortOnAllErrors,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -207,7 +211,7 @@ func (r *fileRestorer) restoreFiles(ctx context.Context) error {
 }
 
 func (r *fileRestorer) restoreEmptyFileAt(location string) error {
-	f, err := createFile(r.targetPath(location), 0, false)
+	f, err := createFile(r.targetPath(location), 0, false, r.allowRecursiveDelete)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/restorer/filerestorer_test.go b/internal/restorer/filerestorer_test.go
index d29c0dcea..f594760e4 100644
--- a/internal/restorer/filerestorer_test.go
+++ b/internal/restorer/filerestorer_test.go
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ func restoreAndVerify(t *testing.T, tempdir string, content []TestFile, files ma
 	t.Helper()
 	repo := newTestRepo(content)
 
-	r := newFileRestorer(tempdir, repo.loader, repo.Lookup, 2, sparse, nil)
+	r := newFileRestorer(tempdir, repo.loader, repo.Lookup, 2, sparse, false, nil)
 
 	if files == nil {
 		r.files = repo.files
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ func TestErrorRestoreFiles(t *testing.T) {
 		return loadError
 	}
 
-	r := newFileRestorer(tempdir, repo.loader, repo.Lookup, 2, false, nil)
+	r := newFileRestorer(tempdir, repo.loader, repo.Lookup, 2, false, false, nil)
 	r.files = repo.files
 
 	err := r.restoreFiles(context.TODO())
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ func TestFatalDownloadError(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 
-	r := newFileRestorer(tempdir, repo.loader, repo.Lookup, 2, false, nil)
+	r := newFileRestorer(tempdir, repo.loader, repo.Lookup, 2, false, false, nil)
 	r.files = repo.files
 
 	var errors []string
diff --git a/internal/restorer/fileswriter.go b/internal/restorer/fileswriter.go
index 034ed2725..962f66619 100644
--- a/internal/restorer/fileswriter.go
+++ b/internal/restorer/fileswriter.go
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ import (
 // TODO I am not 100% convinced this is necessary, i.e. it may be okay
 // to use multiple os.File to write to the same target file
 type filesWriter struct {
-	buckets []filesWriterBucket
+	buckets              []filesWriterBucket
+	allowRecursiveDelete bool
 }
 
 type filesWriterBucket struct {
@@ -33,13 +34,14 @@ type partialFile struct {
 	sparse bool
 }
 
-func newFilesWriter(count int) *filesWriter {
+func newFilesWriter(count int, allowRecursiveDelete bool) *filesWriter {
 	buckets := make([]filesWriterBucket, count)
 	for b := 0; b < count; b++ {
 		buckets[b].files = make(map[string]*partialFile)
 	}
 	return &filesWriter{
-		buckets: buckets,
+		buckets:              buckets,
+		allowRecursiveDelete: allowRecursiveDelete,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -60,7 +62,7 @@ func openFile(path string) (*os.File, error) {
 	return f, nil
 }
 
-func createFile(path string, createSize int64, sparse bool) (*os.File, error) {
+func createFile(path string, createSize int64, sparse bool, allowRecursiveDelete bool) (*os.File, error) {
 	f, err := fs.OpenFile(path, fs.O_CREATE|fs.O_WRONLY|fs.O_NOFOLLOW, 0600)
 	if err != nil && fs.IsAccessDenied(err) {
 		// If file is readonly, clear the readonly flag by resetting the
@@ -109,8 +111,14 @@ func createFile(path string, createSize int64, sparse bool) (*os.File, error) {
 		}
 
 		// not what we expected, try to get rid of it
-		if err := fs.Remove(path); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
+		if allowRecursiveDelete {
+			if err := fs.RemoveAll(path); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		} else {
+			if err := fs.Remove(path); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
 		}
 		// create a new file, pass O_EXCL to make sure there are no surprises
 		f, err = fs.OpenFile(path, fs.O_CREATE|fs.O_WRONLY|fs.O_EXCL|fs.O_NOFOLLOW, 0600)
@@ -169,7 +177,7 @@ func (w *filesWriter) writeToFile(path string, blob []byte, offset int64, create
 		var f *os.File
 		var err error
 		if createSize >= 0 {
-			f, err = createFile(path, createSize, sparse)
+			f, err = createFile(path, createSize, sparse, w.allowRecursiveDelete)
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
diff --git a/internal/restorer/fileswriter_test.go b/internal/restorer/fileswriter_test.go
index 383a9e0d7..c69847927 100644
--- a/internal/restorer/fileswriter_test.go
+++ b/internal/restorer/fileswriter_test.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestFilesWriterBasic(t *testing.T) {
 	dir := rtest.TempDir(t)
-	w := newFilesWriter(1)
+	w := newFilesWriter(1, false)
 
 	f1 := dir + "/f1"
 	f2 := dir + "/f2"
@@ -39,6 +39,29 @@ func TestFilesWriterBasic(t *testing.T) {
 	rtest.Equals(t, []byte{2, 2}, buf)
 }
 
+func TestFilesWriterRecursiveOverwrite(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "test")
+
+	// create filled directory
+	rtest.OK(t, os.Mkdir(path, 0o700))
+	rtest.OK(t, os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(path, "file"), []byte("data"), 0o400))
+
+	// must error if recursive delete is not allowed
+	w := newFilesWriter(1, false)
+	err := w.writeToFile(path, []byte{1}, 0, 2, false)
+	rtest.Assert(t, errors.Is(err, notEmptyDirError()), "unexepected error got %v", err)
+	rtest.Equals(t, 0, len(w.buckets[0].files))
+
+	// must replace directory
+	w = newFilesWriter(1, true)
+	rtest.OK(t, w.writeToFile(path, []byte{1, 1}, 0, 2, false))
+	rtest.Equals(t, 0, len(w.buckets[0].files))
+
+	buf, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+	rtest.OK(t, err)
+	rtest.Equals(t, []byte{1, 1}, buf)
+}
+
 func TestCreateFile(t *testing.T) {
 	basepath := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "test")
 
@@ -110,7 +133,7 @@ func TestCreateFile(t *testing.T) {
 			for j, test := range tests {
 				path := basepath + fmt.Sprintf("%v%v", i, j)
 				sc.create(t, path)
-				f, err := createFile(path, test.size, test.isSparse)
+				f, err := createFile(path, test.size, test.isSparse, false)
 				if sc.err == nil {
 					rtest.OK(t, err)
 					fi, err := f.Stat()
@@ -129,3 +152,19 @@ func TestCreateFile(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestCreateFileRecursiveDelete(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "test")
+
+	// create filled directory
+	rtest.OK(t, os.Mkdir(path, 0o700))
+	rtest.OK(t, os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(path, "file"), []byte("data"), 0o400))
+
+	// replace it
+	f, err := createFile(path, 42, false, true)
+	rtest.OK(t, err)
+	fi, err := f.Stat()
+	rtest.OK(t, err)
+	rtest.Assert(t, fi.Mode().IsRegular(), "wrong filetype %v", fi.Mode())
+	rtest.OK(t, f.Close())
+}
diff --git a/internal/restorer/restorer.go b/internal/restorer/restorer.go
index 6e81812c2..9efaa64df 100644
--- a/internal/restorer/restorer.go
+++ b/internal/restorer/restorer.go
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ func (res *Restorer) RestoreTo(ctx context.Context, dst string) error {
 
 	idx := NewHardlinkIndex[string]()
 	filerestorer := newFileRestorer(dst, res.repo.LoadBlobsFromPack, res.repo.LookupBlob,
-		res.repo.Connections(), res.opts.Sparse, res.opts.Progress)
+		res.repo.Connections(), res.opts.Sparse, res.opts.Delete, res.opts.Progress)
 	filerestorer.Error = res.Error
 
 	debug.Log("first pass for %q", dst)
diff --git a/internal/restorer/restorer_test.go b/internal/restorer/restorer_test.go
index 8a8f81ce0..3d2323d0f 100644
--- a/internal/restorer/restorer_test.go
+++ b/internal/restorer/restorer_test.go
@@ -1214,6 +1214,27 @@ func TestRestoreDryRun(t *testing.T) {
 	rtest.Assert(t, errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist), "expected no file to be created, got %v", err)
 }
 
+func TestRestoreOverwriteDirectory(t *testing.T) {
+	saveSnapshotsAndOverwrite(t,
+		Snapshot{
+			Nodes: map[string]Node{
+				"dir": Dir{
+					Mode: normalizeFileMode(0755 | os.ModeDir),
+					Nodes: map[string]Node{
+						"anotherfile": File{Data: "content: file\n"},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		Snapshot{
+			Nodes: map[string]Node{
+				"dir": File{Data: "content: file\n"},
+			},
+		},
+		Options{Delete: true},
+	)
+}
+
 func TestRestoreDelete(t *testing.T) {
 	repo := repository.TestRepository(t)
 	tempdir := rtest.TempDir(t)