diff --git a/src/os/file_unix.go b/src/os/file_unix.go
index 1833c26531..6a884a29a8 100644
--- a/src/os/file_unix.go
+++ b/src/os/file_unix.go
@@ -110,10 +110,20 @@ func NewFile(fd uintptr, name string) *File {
 type newFileKind int
 
 const (
+	// kindNewFile means that the descriptor was passed to us via NewFile.
 	kindNewFile newFileKind = iota
+	// kindOpenFile means that the descriptor was opened using
+	// Open, Create, or OpenFile.
 	kindOpenFile
+	// kindPipe means that the descriptor was opened using Pipe.
 	kindPipe
+	// kindNonBlock means that the descriptor was passed to us via NewFile,
+	// and the descriptor is already in non-blocking mode.
 	kindNonBlock
+	// kindNoPoll means that we should not put the descriptor into
+	// non-blocking mode, because we know it is not a pipe or FIFO.
+	// Used by openFdAt for directories.
+	kindNoPoll
 )
 
 // newFile is like NewFile, but if called from OpenFile or Pipe
diff --git a/src/os/removeall_at.go b/src/os/removeall_at.go
index 306debd972..378733ffdb 100644
--- a/src/os/removeall_at.go
+++ b/src/os/removeall_at.go
@@ -194,5 +194,6 @@ func openFdAt(dirfd int, name string) (*File, error) {
 		syscall.CloseOnExec(r)
 	}
 
-	return newFile(uintptr(r), name, kindOpenFile), nil
+	// We use kindNoPoll because we know that this is a directory.
+	return newFile(uintptr(r), name, kindNoPoll), nil
 }
diff --git a/src/os/removeall_test.go b/src/os/removeall_test.go
index aa1c04325d..a3af52cc17 100644
--- a/src/os/removeall_test.go
+++ b/src/os/removeall_test.go
@@ -5,11 +5,14 @@
 package os_test
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
+	"internal/testenv"
 	"os"
 	. "os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
@@ -438,3 +441,64 @@ func TestRemoveAllWithMoreErrorThanReqSize(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("RemoveAll(<read-only directory>) unexpectedly removed %d read-only files from that directory", 1025-len(names))
 	}
 }
+
+func TestRemoveAllNoFcntl(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("skipping in short mode")
+	}
+
+	const env = "GO_TEST_REMOVE_ALL_NO_FCNTL"
+	if dir := Getenv(env); dir != "" {
+		if err := RemoveAll(dir); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		return
+	}
+
+	// Only test on Linux so that we can assume we have strace.
+	// The code is OS-independent so if it passes on Linux
+	// it should pass on other Unix systems.
+	if runtime.GOOS != "linux" {
+		t.Skipf("skipping test on %s", runtime.GOOS)
+	}
+	if _, err := Stat("/bin/strace"); err != nil {
+		t.Skipf("skipping test because /bin/strace not found: %v", err)
+	}
+	me, err := Executable()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Skipf("skipping because Executable failed: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Create 100 directories.
+	// The test is that we can remove them without calling fcntl
+	// on each one.
+	tmpdir := t.TempDir()
+	subdir := filepath.Join(tmpdir, "subdir")
+	if err := Mkdir(subdir, 0o755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
+		subsubdir := filepath.Join(subdir, strconv.Itoa(i))
+		if err := Mkdir(filepath.Join(subdir, strconv.Itoa(i)), 0o755); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if err := WriteFile(filepath.Join(subsubdir, "file"), nil, 0o644); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	cmd := testenv.Command(t, "/bin/strace", "-f", "-e", "fcntl", me, "-test.run=TestRemoveAllNoFcntl")
+	cmd = testenv.CleanCmdEnv(cmd)
+	cmd.Env = append(cmd.Env, env+"="+subdir)
+	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+	if len(out) > 0 {
+		t.Logf("%s", out)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if got := bytes.Count(out, []byte("fcntl")); got >= 100 {
+		t.Errorf("found %d fcntl calls, want < 100", got)
+	}
+}