diff --git a/sys/fs/unionfs/union_vnops.c b/sys/fs/unionfs/union_vnops.c
--- a/sys/fs/unionfs/union_vnops.c
+++ b/sys/fs/unionfs/union_vnops.c
@@ -1732,7 +1732,7 @@
 		}
 		ump = MOUNTTOUNIONFSMOUNT(ap->a_vp->v_mount);
 		if (ump->um_whitemode == UNIONFS_WHITE_ALWAYS || lvp != NULLVP)
-			cnp->cn_flags |= DOWHITEOUT;
+			cnp->cn_flags |= (DOWHITEOUT | IGNOREWHITEOUT);
 		int udvp_lkflags, uvp_lkflags;
 		unionfs_forward_vop_start_pair(udvp, &udvp_lkflags,
 		    uvp, &uvp_lkflags);
diff --git a/sys/sys/namei.h b/sys/sys/namei.h
--- a/sys/sys/namei.h
+++ b/sys/sys/namei.h
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@
  */
 #define	RDONLY		0x00000200 /* lookup with read-only semantics */
 #define	ISRESTARTED	0x00000400 /* restarted namei */
-/* UNUSED		0x00000800 */
+#define	IGNOREWHITEOUT	0x00000800 /* ignore whiteouts, e.g. when checking if a dir is empty */
 #define	ISWHITEOUT	0x00001000 /* found whiteout */
 #define	DOWHITEOUT	0x00002000 /* do whiteouts */
 #define	WILLBEDIR	0x00004000 /* new files will be dirs; allow trailing / */
diff --git a/sys/ufs/ufs/ufs_extern.h b/sys/ufs/ufs/ufs_extern.h
--- a/sys/ufs/ufs/ufs_extern.h
+++ b/sys/ufs/ufs/ufs_extern.h
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
 int	 ufs_checkpath(ino_t, ino_t, struct inode *, struct ucred *, ino_t *);
 void	 ufs_dirbad(struct inode *, doff_t, char *);
 int	 ufs_dirbadentry(struct vnode *, struct direct *, int);
-int	 ufs_dirempty(struct inode *, ino_t, struct ucred *);
+int	 ufs_dirempty(struct inode *, ino_t, struct ucred *, int);
 int	 ufs_extread(struct vop_read_args *);
 int	 ufs_extwrite(struct vop_write_args *);
 void	 ufs_makedirentry(struct inode *, struct componentname *,
diff --git a/sys/ufs/ufs/ufs_lookup.c b/sys/ufs/ufs/ufs_lookup.c
--- a/sys/ufs/ufs/ufs_lookup.c
+++ b/sys/ufs/ufs/ufs_lookup.c
@@ -1298,7 +1298,8 @@
  * NB: does not handle corrupted directories.
  */
 int
-ufs_dirempty(struct inode *ip, ino_t parentino, struct ucred *cred)
+ufs_dirempty(struct inode *ip, ino_t parentino, struct ucred *cred,
+    int skipwhiteout)
 {
 	doff_t off;
 	struct dirtemplate dbuf;
@@ -1321,7 +1322,8 @@
 		if (dp->d_reclen == 0)
 			return (0);
 		/* skip empty entries */
-		if (dp->d_ino == 0 || dp->d_ino == UFS_WINO)
+		if (dp->d_ino == 0 ||
+		    (skipwhiteout != 0 && dp->d_ino == UFS_WINO))
 			continue;
 		/* accept only "." and ".." */
 #		if (BYTE_ORDER == LITTLE_ENDIAN)
diff --git a/sys/ufs/ufs/ufs_vnops.c b/sys/ufs/ufs/ufs_vnops.c
--- a/sys/ufs/ufs/ufs_vnops.c
+++ b/sys/ufs/ufs/ufs_vnops.c
@@ -1625,7 +1625,8 @@
 		 */
 		if ((tip->i_mode & IFMT) == IFDIR) {
 			if ((tip->i_effnlink > 2) ||
-			    !ufs_dirempty(tip, tdp->i_number, tcnp->cn_cred)) {
+			    !ufs_dirempty(tip, tdp->i_number, tcnp->cn_cred,
+			    (tcnp->cn_flags & IGNOREWHITEOUT) != 0)) {
 				error = ENOTEMPTY;
 				goto bad;
 			}
@@ -2281,7 +2282,8 @@
 		error = EINVAL;
 		goto out;
 	}
-	if (!ufs_dirempty(ip, dp->i_number, cnp->cn_cred)) {
+	if (!ufs_dirempty(ip, dp->i_number, cnp->cn_cred,
+	    (cnp->cn_flags & IGNOREWHITEOUT) != 0)) {
 		error = ENOTEMPTY;
 		goto out;
 	}