diff --git a/meta/classes-recipe/kernel.bbclass b/meta/classes-recipe/kernel.bbclass
index acb43bd4d5..2ec9ea2091 100644
--- a/meta/classes-recipe/kernel.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes-recipe/kernel.bbclass
@@ -454,8 +454,8 @@ kernel_do_install() {
 	unset CFLAGS CPPFLAGS CXXFLAGS LDFLAGS MACHINE
 	if (grep -q -i -e '^CONFIG_MODULES=y$' .config); then
 		oe_runmake DEPMOD=echo MODLIB=${D}${nonarch_base_libdir}/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION} INSTALL_FW_PATH=${D}${nonarch_base_libdir}/firmware modules_install
-		rm "${D}${nonarch_base_libdir}/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}/build"
-		rm "${D}${nonarch_base_libdir}/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}/source"
+		rm -f "${D}${nonarch_base_libdir}/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}/build"
+		rm -f "${D}${nonarch_base_libdir}/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}/source"
 		# Remove empty module directories to prevent QA issues
 		find "${D}${nonarch_base_libdir}/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}/kernel" -type d -empty -delete
 	else