diff --git a/src/backend/commands/tablespace.c b/src/backend/commands/tablespace.c
index a54239a..2928ecf 100644
--- a/src/backend/commands/tablespace.c
+++ b/src/backend/commands/tablespace.c
@@ -589,7 +589,6 @@ create_tablespace_directories(const char *location, const Oid tablespaceoid)
 {
 	char	   *linkloc;
 	char	   *location_with_version_dir;
-	struct stat st;
 
 	linkloc = psprintf("pg_tblspc/%u", tablespaceoid);
 	location_with_version_dir = psprintf("%s/%s", location,
@@ -614,39 +613,22 @@ create_tablespace_directories(const char *location, const Oid tablespaceoid)
 							location)));
 	}
 
-	if (InRecovery)
-	{
-		/*
-		 * Our theory for replaying a CREATE is to forcibly drop the target
-		 * subdirectory if present, and then recreate it. This may be more
-		 * work than needed, but it is simple to implement.
-		 */
-		if (stat(location_with_version_dir, &st) == 0 && S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))
-		{
-			if (!rmtree(location_with_version_dir, true))
-				/* If this failed, MakePGDirectory() below is going to error. */
-				ereport(WARNING,
-						(errmsg("some useless files may be left behind in old database directory \"%s\"",
-								location_with_version_dir)));
-		}
-	}
-
 	/*
 	 * The creation of the version directory prevents more than one tablespace
 	 * in a single location.
 	 */
 	if (MakePGDirectory(location_with_version_dir) < 0)
 	{
-		if (errno == EEXIST)
-			ereport(ERROR,
-					(errcode(ERRCODE_OBJECT_IN_USE),
-					 errmsg("directory \"%s\" already in use as a tablespace",
-							location_with_version_dir)));
-		else
+		if (errno != EEXIST)
 			ereport(ERROR,
 					(errcode_for_file_access(),
 					 errmsg("could not create directory \"%s\": %m",
 							location_with_version_dir)));
+		else if (!InRecovery)
+			ereport(ERROR,
+					(errcode(ERRCODE_OBJECT_IN_USE),
+					 errmsg("directory \"%s\" already in use as a tablespace",
+							location_with_version_dir)));
 	}
 
 	/*