diff --git a/lib/internal/fs/rimraf.js b/lib/internal/fs/rimraf.js
index 590b86dddacf65..e88dd9697b1938 100644
--- a/lib/internal/fs/rimraf.js
+++ b/lib/internal/fs/rimraf.js
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ function rimrafSync(path, options) {
     if (stats !== undefined && stats.isDirectory())
       _rmdirSync(path, options, null);
     else
-      unlinkSync(path);
+      _unlinkSync(path, options);
   } catch (err) {
     if (err.code === 'ENOENT')
       return;
@@ -204,6 +204,25 @@ function rimrafSync(path, options) {
 }
 
 
+function _unlinkSync(path, options) {
+  const tries = options.maxRetries + 1;
+
+  for (let i = 1; i <= tries; i++) {
+    try {
+      return unlinkSync(path);
+    } catch (err) {
+      // Only sleep if this is not the last try, and the delay is greater
+      // than zero, and an error was encountered that warrants a retry.
+      if (retryErrorCodes.has(err.code) &&
+          i < tries &&
+          options.retryDelay > 0) {
+        sleep(i * options.retryDelay);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+
 function _rmdirSync(path, options, originalErr) {
   try {
     rmdirSync(path);
@@ -270,7 +289,7 @@ function fixWinEPERMSync(path, options, originalErr) {
   if (stats.isDirectory())
     _rmdirSync(path, options, originalErr);
   else
-    unlinkSync(path);
+    _unlinkSync(path, options);
 }