diff --git a/Annex/Branch.hs b/Annex/Branch.hs
index d94391aaf8..9cdb1267fa 100644
--- a/Annex/Branch.hs
+++ b/Annex/Branch.hs
@@ -771,7 +771,7 @@ stageJournal jl commitindex = withIndex $ withOtherTmp $ \tmpdir -> do
 		stagedfs <- lines <$> hGetContents jlogh
 		mapM_ (removeFile . (dir </>) . toOsPath) stagedfs
 		hClose jlogh
-		removeWhenExistsWith (R.removeLink) (fromOsPath jlogf)
+		removeWhenExistsWith removeFile jlogf
 	openjlog tmpdir = liftIO $ openTmpFileIn tmpdir (literalOsPath "jlog")
 
 getLocalTransitions :: Annex Transitions
diff --git a/Annex/Content.hs b/Annex/Content.hs
index 42f33a64fd..a6b8423386 100644
--- a/Annex/Content.hs
+++ b/Annex/Content.hs
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ lockContentUsing contentlocker key fallback a = withContentLockFile key $ \mlock
 
 	cleanuplockfile lockfile = void $ tryNonAsync $ do
 		thawContentDir lockfile
-		liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink $ fromOsPath lockfile
+		liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith removeFile lockfile
 		cleanObjectDirs lockfile
 
 {- Runs an action, passing it the temp file to get,
@@ -437,7 +437,7 @@ verificationOfContentFailed :: OsPath -> Annex ()
 verificationOfContentFailed tmpfile = do
 	warning "Verification of content failed"
 	pruneTmpWorkDirBefore tmpfile
-		(liftIO . removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink . fromOsPath)
+		(liftIO . removeWhenExistsWith removeFile)
 
 {- Checks if there is enough free disk space to download a key
  - to its temp file.
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ withTmp :: Key -> (OsPath -> Annex a) -> Annex a
 withTmp key action = do
 	tmp <- prepTmp key
 	res <- action tmp
-	pruneTmpWorkDirBefore tmp (liftIO . removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink . fromOsPath)
+	pruneTmpWorkDirBefore tmp (liftIO . removeWhenExistsWith removeFile)
 	return res
 
 {- Moves a key's content into .git/annex/objects/
@@ -539,7 +539,7 @@ moveAnnex key af src = ifM (checkSecureHashes' key)
 				Database.Keys.addInodeCaches key
 					(catMaybes (destic:ics))
 		)
-	alreadyhave = liftIO $ R.removeLink $ fromOsPath src
+	alreadyhave = liftIO $ removeFile src
 
 checkSecureHashes :: Key -> Annex (Maybe String)
 checkSecureHashes key = ifM (Backend.isCryptographicallySecureKey key)
@@ -635,7 +635,7 @@ linkAnnex fromto key src (Just srcic) dest destmode =
 				catMaybes [destic, Just srcic]
 			return LinkAnnexOk
 		_ -> do
-			liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink $ fromOsPath dest
+			liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith removeFile dest
 			failed
 
 {- Removes the annex object file for a key. Lowlevel. -}
@@ -644,7 +644,7 @@ unlinkAnnex key = do
 	obj <- calcRepo (gitAnnexLocation key)
 	modifyContentDir obj $ do
 		secureErase obj
-		liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink $ fromOsPath obj
+		liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith removeFile obj
 
 {- Runs an action to transfer an object's content. The action is also
  - passed the size of the object.
@@ -767,7 +767,7 @@ removeAnnex :: ContentRemovalLock -> Annex ()
 removeAnnex (ContentRemovalLock key) = withObjectLoc key $ \file ->
 	cleanObjectLoc key $ do
 		secureErase file
-		liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink $ fromOsPath file
+		liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith removeFile file
 		g <- Annex.gitRepo 
 		mapM_ (\f -> void $ tryIO $ resetpointer $ fromTopFilePath f g)
 			=<< Database.Keys.getAssociatedFiles key
@@ -945,7 +945,7 @@ staleKeysPrune dirspec nottransferred = do
 	dir <- fromRepo dirspec
 	forM_ dups $ \k ->
 		pruneTmpWorkDirBefore (dir </> keyFile k)
-			(liftIO . R.removeLink . fromOsPath)
+			(liftIO . removeFile)
 
 	if nottransferred
 		then do
@@ -1117,6 +1117,6 @@ checkRetentionTimestamp key locker = do
  - time. -}
 removeRetentionTimeStamp :: Key -> OsPath -> Annex ()
 removeRetentionTimeStamp key rt = modifyContentDirWhenExists rt $ do
-	liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink $ fromOsPath rt
+	liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith removeFile rt
 	rtl <- calcRepo (gitAnnexContentRetentionTimestampLock key)
-	liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink $ fromOsPath rtl
+	liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith removeFile rtl
diff --git a/Annex/Ssh.hs b/Annex/Ssh.hs
index 08fec3032d..fc6e3de61e 100644
--- a/Annex/Ssh.hs
+++ b/Annex/Ssh.hs
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ forceStopSsh socketfile = withNullHandle $ \nullh -> do
 		}
 	void $ liftIO $ catchMaybeIO $ withCreateProcess p $ \_ _ _ pid ->
 		forceSuccessProcess p pid
-	liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink (fromOsPath socketfile)
+	liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith removeFile socketfile
 
 {- This needs to be as short as possible, due to limitations on the length
  - of the path to a socket file. At the same time, it needs to be unique
diff --git a/Creds.hs b/Creds.hs
index 02fc67c3a9..3249e8d376 100644
--- a/Creds.hs
+++ b/Creds.hs
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ decodeCredPair creds = case lines creds of
 removeCreds :: OsPath -> Annex ()
 removeCreds file = do
 	d <- fromRepo gitAnnexCredsDir
-	liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink (fromOsPath (d </> file))
+	liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith removeFile (d </> file)
 
 includeCredsInfo :: ParsedRemoteConfig -> CredPairStorage -> [(String, String)] -> Annex [(String, String)]
 includeCredsInfo pc@(ParsedRemoteConfig cm _) storage info = do
diff --git a/Git/Repair.hs b/Git/Repair.hs
index 904cca52b7..0e0fa556bf 100644
--- a/Git/Repair.hs
+++ b/Git/Repair.hs
@@ -58,8 +58,7 @@ cleanCorruptObjects fsckresults r = do
 	mapM_ removeLoose (S.toList $ knownMissing fsckresults)
 	mapM_ removeBad =<< listLooseObjectShas r
   where
-	removeLoose s = removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink $
-		fromOsPath $ looseObjectFile r s
+	removeLoose s = removeWhenExistsWith removeFile $ looseObjectFile r s
 	removeBad s = do
 		void $ tryIO $ allowRead $ looseObjectFile r s
 		whenM (isMissing s r) $
@@ -97,8 +96,8 @@ explodePacks r = go =<< listPackFiles r
 			createDirectoryIfMissing True (parentDir dest)
 			moveFile objfile dest
 		forM_ packs $ \packfile -> do
-			removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink (fromOsPath packfile)
-			removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink (fromOsPath (packIdxFile packfile))
+			removeWhenExistsWith removeFile packfile
+			removeWhenExistsWith removeFile (packIdxFile packfile)
 		return True
 
 {- Try to retrieve a set of missing objects, from the remotes of a
@@ -264,7 +263,7 @@ explodePackedRefsFile r = do
 			. fileLines'
 			<$> catchDefaultIO "" (safeReadFile f)
 		forM_ rs makeref
-		removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink (fromOsPath f)
+		removeWhenExistsWith removeFile f
   where
 	makeref (sha, ref) = do
 		let gitd = localGitDir r
@@ -286,7 +285,7 @@ parsePacked l = case words l of
 {- git-branch -d cannot be used to remove a branch that is directly
  - pointing to a corrupt commit. -}
 nukeBranchRef :: Branch -> Repo -> IO ()
-nukeBranchRef b r = removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink $ fromOsPath $
+nukeBranchRef b r = removeWhenExistsWith removeFile $
 	localGitDir r </> toOsPath (fromRef' b)
 
 {- Finds the most recent commit to a branch that does not need any
@@ -425,7 +424,7 @@ rewriteIndex r
 	| otherwise = do
 		(bad, good, cleanup) <- partitionIndex r
 		unless (null bad) $ do
-			removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink (fromOsPath (indexFile r))
+			removeWhenExistsWith removeFile (indexFile r)
 			UpdateIndex.streamUpdateIndex r
 				=<< (catMaybes <$> mapM reinject good)
 		void cleanup
@@ -473,7 +472,7 @@ displayList items header
 preRepair :: Repo -> IO ()
 preRepair g = do
 	unlessM (validhead <$> catchDefaultIO "" (decodeBS <$> safeReadFile headfile)) $ do
-		removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink (fromOsPath headfile)
+		removeWhenExistsWith removeFile headfile
 		writeFile (fromOsPath headfile) "ref: refs/heads/master"
 	explodePackedRefsFile g
 	unless (repoIsLocalBare g) $
@@ -606,7 +605,7 @@ runRepair' removablebranch fsckresult forced referencerepo g = do
 			else successfulfinish modifiedbranches
 
 	corruptedindex = do
-		removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink (fromOsPath (indexFile g))
+		removeWhenExistsWith removeFile (indexFile g)
 		-- The corrupted index can prevent fsck from finding other
 		-- problems, so re-run repair.
 		fsckresult' <- findBroken False False g
diff --git a/Remote/Helper/Chunked.hs b/Remote/Helper/Chunked.hs
index 6d6b619fd4..f248db7b73 100644
--- a/Remote/Helper/Chunked.hs
+++ b/Remote/Helper/Chunked.hs
@@ -420,10 +420,10 @@ writeRetrievedContent dest enc encc mh mp content miv = case (enc, mh, content)
 		withBytes content $ \b ->
 			decrypt cmd encc cipher (feedBytes b) $
 				readBytes write
-		liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink (fromOsPath f)
+		liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith removeFile f
 	(Nothing, _, FileContent f) -> do
 		withBytes content write
-		liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith R.removeLink (fromOsPath f)
+		liftIO $ removeWhenExistsWith removeFile f
 	(Nothing, _, ByteContent b) -> write b
   where
 	write b = case mh of
diff --git a/Upgrade/V7.hs b/Upgrade/V7.hs
index d4b3e35461..caabe13d2f 100644
--- a/Upgrade/V7.hs
+++ b/Upgrade/V7.hs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ upgrade automatic = do
 	-- new database is not populated. It will be automatically
 	-- populated from the git-annex branch the next time it is used.
 	removeOldDb =<< fromRepo gitAnnexContentIdentifierDbDirOld
-	liftIO . removeWhenExistsWith (R.removeLink . fromOsPath)
+	liftIO . removeWhenExistsWith removeFile
 		=<< fromRepo gitAnnexContentIdentifierLockOld
 
 	-- The export databases are deleted here. The new databases
@@ -50,9 +50,9 @@ upgrade automatic = do
 
 	populateKeysDb
 	removeOldDb =<< fromRepo gitAnnexKeysDbOld
-	liftIO . removeWhenExistsWith (R.removeLink . fromOsPath)
+	liftIO . removeWhenExistsWith removeFile
 		=<< fromRepo gitAnnexKeysDbIndexCacheOld
-	liftIO . removeWhenExistsWith (R.removeLink . fromOsPath)
+	liftIO . removeWhenExistsWith removeFile
 		=<< fromRepo gitAnnexKeysDbLockOld
 	
 	updateSmudgeFilter
diff --git a/Utility/LockFile/PidLock.hs b/Utility/LockFile/PidLock.hs
index ff49d9abfa..505196c718 100644
--- a/Utility/LockFile/PidLock.hs
+++ b/Utility/LockFile/PidLock.hs
@@ -158,12 +158,12 @@ tryLock lockfile = do
 		hClose h
 		let failedlock = do
 			dropSideLock sidelock
-			removeWhenExistsWith removeLink tmp'
+			removeWhenExistsWith removeFile tmp
 			return Nothing
 		let tooklock st = return $ Just $ LockHandle abslockfile st sidelock
 		linkToLock sidelock tmp' (fromOsPath abslockfile) >>= \case
 			Just lckst -> do
-				removeWhenExistsWith removeLink tmp'
+				removeWhenExistsWith removeFile tmp
 				tooklock lckst
 			Nothing -> do
 				v <- readPidLock abslockfile
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ checkInsaneLustre dest = do
 		_ -> do
 			-- Try to clean up the extra copy we made
 			-- that has the same name. Egads.
-			_ <- tryIO $ removeLink $ fromOsPath dest
+			_ <- tryIO $ removeFile dest
 			return True
 
 -- | Waits as necessary to take a lock.
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ dropLock (LockHandle lockfile _ sidelock) = do
 	-- Drop side lock first, at which point the pid lock will be
 	-- considered stale.
 	dropSideLock sidelock
-	removeWhenExistsWith removeLink (fromOsPath lockfile)
+	removeWhenExistsWith removeFile lockfile
 dropLock ParentLocked = return ()
 
 getLockStatus :: PidLockFile -> IO LockStatus
diff --git a/Utility/Tmp.hs b/Utility/Tmp.hs
index 8e0ca10755..b9aff8979a 100644
--- a/Utility/Tmp.hs
+++ b/Utility/Tmp.hs
@@ -19,12 +19,10 @@ module Utility.Tmp (
 ) where
 
 import System.IO
-import System.Directory
 import Control.Monad.IO.Class
 import System.IO.Error
 import Data.Char
 import qualified Data.ByteString as B
-import qualified System.FilePath.ByteString as P
 
 import Utility.Exception
 import Utility.FileSystemEncoding
@@ -32,6 +30,7 @@ import Utility.FileMode
 import qualified Utility.RawFilePath as R
 import qualified Utility.FileIO as F
 import Utility.OsPath
+import Utility.SystemDirectory
 
 type Template = OsString
 
@@ -58,14 +57,14 @@ openTmpFileIn dir template = F.openTempFile dir template
 viaTmp :: (MonadMask m, MonadIO m) => (OsPath -> v -> m ()) -> OsPath -> v -> m ()
 viaTmp a file content = bracketIO setup cleanup use
   where
-	(dir, base) = P.splitFileName (fromOsPath file)
-	template = relatedTemplate (base <> ".tmp")
+	(dir, base) = splitFileName file
+	template = relatedTemplate (fromOsPath base <> ".tmp")
 	setup = do
-		createDirectoryIfMissing True (fromRawFilePath dir)
-		openTmpFileIn (toOsPath dir) template
+		createDirectoryIfMissing True dir
+		openTmpFileIn dir template
 	cleanup (tmpfile, h) = do
 		_ <- tryIO $ hClose h
-		tryIO $ R.removeLink (fromOsPath tmpfile)
+		tryIO $ removeFile tmpfile
 	use (tmpfile, h) = do
 		let tmpfile' = fromOsPath tmpfile
 		-- Make mode the same as if the file were created usually,
@@ -83,8 +82,8 @@ viaTmp a file content = bracketIO setup cleanup use
  - (or in "." if there is none) then removes the file. -}
 withTmpFile :: (MonadIO m, MonadMask m) => Template -> (OsPath -> Handle -> m a) -> m a
 withTmpFile template a = do
-	tmpdir <- liftIO $ catchDefaultIO "." getTemporaryDirectory
-	withTmpFileIn (toOsPath (toRawFilePath tmpdir)) template a
+	tmpdir <- liftIO $ catchDefaultIO (literalOsPath ".") getTemporaryDirectory
+	withTmpFileIn tmpdir template a
 
 {- Runs an action with a tmp file located in the specified directory,
  - then removes the file.
@@ -98,7 +97,7 @@ withTmpFileIn tmpdir template a = bracket create remove use
 	create = liftIO $ openTmpFileIn tmpdir template
 	remove (name, h) = liftIO $ do
 		hClose h
-		tryIO $ R.removeLink (fromOsPath name)
+		tryIO $ removeFile name
 	use (name, h) = a name h
 
 {- It's not safe to use a FilePath of an existing file as the template