diff --git a/src/backups.js b/src/backups.js
index ff94b532d..b4e091041 100644
--- a/src/backups.js
+++ b/src/backups.js
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ function sync(backupConfig, backupId, dataDir, callback) {
             var stream = fs.createReadStream(path.join(dataDir, task.path));
             stream.on('error', function () { return iteratorCallback(); }); // ignore error if file disappears
             api(backupConfig.provider).upload(backupConfig, getBackupFilePath(backupConfig, backupId, task.path), stream, iteratorCallback);
-        } else if (task.operation === 'remove') {
+        } else if (task.operation === 'remove' || task.operation === 'removedir') {
             safe.fs.writeFileSync(paths.BACKUP_RESULT_FILE, 'Removing ' + task.path);
             api(backupConfig.provider).remove(backupConfig, getBackupFilePath(backupConfig, backupId, task.path), iteratorCallback);
         }
diff --git a/src/syncer.js b/src/syncer.js
index c5678424b..57a48fd8d 100644
--- a/src/syncer.js
+++ b/src/syncer.js
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ function sync(dir, taskProcessor, concurrency, callback) {
     var cacheFile = path.join(paths.BACKUP_INFO_DIR, path.basename(dir) + '.sync.cache'),
         newCacheFile = path.join(paths.BACKUP_INFO_DIR, path.basename(dir) + '.sync.cache.new');
 
+    if (!safe.fs.existsSync(cacheFile)) { // if cache is missing, start out empty
+        delQueue.push({ operation: 'removedir', path: '' });
+    }
+
     var cache = readCache(cacheFile);
 
     var newCacheFd = safe.fs.openSync(newCacheFile, 'w'); // truncates any existing file