diff -Naurp patch-2.5.9-118-g4e89466/src/patch.c patch-patched/src/patch.c
--- patch-2.5.9-118-g4e89466/src/patch.c	2009-06-05 20:25:13.000000000 -0300
+++ patch-patched/src/patch.c	2009-06-19 19:32:56.000000000 -0300
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ static char const *patchname;
 static char *rejname;
 static char const * volatile TMPREJNAME;
 static int volatile TMPREJNAME_needs_removal;
+static char const *rm_command = NULL;
 
 static LINENUM maxfuzz = 2;
 
@@ -360,7 +361,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 		     dry_run ? " and any empty ancestor directories" : "");
 	      if (! dry_run)
 		{
-		  move_file (0, 0, 0, outname, 0, backup);
+		  move_file (0, 0, 0, outname, 0, backup, rm_command);
 		  removedirs (outname);
 		}
 	    }
@@ -384,7 +385,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 		      time_t t;
 
 		      move_file (TMPOUTNAME, &TMPOUTNAME_needs_removal, &outst,
-				 outname, instat.st_mode, backup);
+				 outname, instat.st_mode, backup, NULL);
 
 		      if ((set_time | set_utc)
 			  && (t = pch_timestamp (! reverse)) != (time_t) -1)
@@ -465,7 +466,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 			  append_to_file (TMPREJNAME, rej);
 			else
 			  move_file (TMPREJNAME, &TMPREJNAME_needs_removal,
-				     &rejst, rej, 0666, false);
+				     &rejst, rej, 0666, false, NULL);
 		      }
 		  }
 		if (!rejname)
@@ -563,6 +564,7 @@ static struct option const longopts[] =
   {"posix", no_argument, NULL, CHAR_MAX + 7},
   {"quoting-style", required_argument, NULL, CHAR_MAX + 8},
   {"reject-format", required_argument, NULL, CHAR_MAX + 9},
+  {"rm-command", required_argument, NULL, CHAR_MAX + 10},
   {NULL, no_argument, NULL, 0}
 };
 
@@ -594,6 +596,7 @@ static char const *const option_help[] =
 "  -m  --merge  Merge using conflict markers instead of creating reject files.",
 #endif
 "  -E  --remove-empty-files  Remove output files that are empty after patching.",
+"  --rm-command COMMAND    use COMMAND to delete files.",
 "",
 "  -Z  --set-utc  Set times of patched files, assuming diff uses UTC (GMT).",
 "  -T  --set-time  Likewise, assuming local time.",
@@ -832,6 +835,9 @@ get_some_switches (void)
 		else
 		  usage (stderr, 2);
 		break;
+	    case CHAR_MAX + 10:
+		rm_command = optarg;
+		break;
 	    default:
 		usage (stderr, 2);
 	}
diff -Naurp patch-2.5.9-118-g4e89466/src/util.c patch-patched/src/util.c
--- patch-2.5.9-118-g4e89466/src/util.c	2009-06-15 18:00:02.000000000 -0300
+++ patch-patched/src/util.c	2009-06-19 19:43:16.000000000 -0300
@@ -268,7 +268,8 @@ create_backup (char *to, struct stat *to
 void
 move_file (char const *from, int volatile *from_needs_removal,
 	   struct stat const *fromst,
-	   char *to, mode_t mode, bool backup)
+	   char *to, mode_t mode, bool backup,
+	   char const *rm_command)
 {
   struct stat to_st;
   int to_errno = -1;
@@ -328,8 +329,21 @@ move_file (char const *from, int volatil
     {
       if (debug & 4)
 	say ("Removing file %s\n", quotearg (to));
-      if (unlink (to) != 0 && errno != ENOENT)
-	pfatal ("Can't remove file %s", quotearg (to));
+      if (rm_command == NULL)
+	{
+	  if (unlink (to) != 0 && errno != ENOENT)
+	    pfatal ("Can't remove file %s", quotearg (to));
+	}
+      else
+	{
+	  char *cmd = malloc (strlen (rm_command) + strlen (to) + 2);
+	  strcpy (cmd, rm_command);
+	  strcat (cmd, " ");
+	  strcat (cmd, to);
+	  if (systemic (cmd) == -1)
+	    pfatal ("Can't execute custom command %s", quotearg (cmd));
+	  free (cmd);
+	}
     }
 }
 
diff -Naurp patch-2.5.9-118-g4e89466/src/util.h patch-patched/src/util.h
--- patch-2.5.9-118-g4e89466/src/util.h	2009-04-08 01:48:31.000000000 -0300
+++ patch-patched/src/util.h	2009-06-19 15:43:01.000000000 -0300
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ void init_backup_hash_table (void);
 void init_time (void);
 void xalloc_die (void) __attribute__ ((noreturn));
 void create_backup (char *, struct stat *, int *, bool);
-void move_file (char const *, int volatile *, struct stat const *, char *, mode_t, bool);
+void move_file (char const *, int volatile *, struct stat const *, char *, mode_t, bool, char const *);
 void read_fatal (void) __attribute__ ((noreturn));
 void remove_prefix (char *, size_t);
 void removedirs (char *);