diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/syscalls.cc b/winsup/cygwin/syscalls.cc
index b3a110aaa..4cc8d07f5 100644
--- a/winsup/cygwin/syscalls.cc
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/syscalls.cc
@@ -1161,24 +1161,15 @@ _remove_r (struct _reent *, const char *ourname)
       return -1;
     }
 
-  return win32_name.isdir () ? rmdir (ourname) : unlink (ourname);
+  int res = win32_name.isdir () ? rmdir (ourname) : unlink (ourname);
+  syscall_printf ("%R = remove(%s)", res, ourname);
+  return res;
 }
 
 extern "C" int
 remove (const char *ourname)
 {
-  path_conv win32_name (ourname, PC_SYM_NOFOLLOW);
-
-  if (win32_name.error)
-    {
-      set_errno (win32_name.error);
-      syscall_printf ("-1 = remove (%s)", ourname);
-      return -1;
-    }
-
-  int res = win32_name.isdir () ? rmdir (ourname) : unlink (ourname);
-  syscall_printf ("%R = remove(%s)", res, ourname);
-  return res;
+  return _remove_r (_REENT, ourname);
 }
 
 extern "C" pid_t