diff --git a/app/controllers/repositories_controller.rb b/app/controllers/repositories_controller.rb
index a0aa0587ee..acacf43d1a 100644
--- a/app/controllers/repositories_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/repositories_controller.rb
@@ -109,8 +109,12 @@ class RepositoriesController < ApplicationController
   end
 
   def destroy
-    @project.repository.destroy
-    flash[:notice] = I18n.t('repositories.delete_sucessful')
+    repository = @project.repository
+    if repository.destroy
+      flash[:notice] = I18n.t('repositories.delete_sucessful')
+    else
+      flash[:error] = repository.errors.full_messages.join("\n")
+    end
     redirect_to settings_repository_tab_path
   end
 
diff --git a/app/models/repository.rb b/app/models/repository.rb
index b050119601..0b28a88b76 100644
--- a/app/models/repository.rb
+++ b/app/models/repository.rb
@@ -432,8 +432,12 @@ class Repository < ActiveRecord::Base
     service = Scm::DeleteManagedRepositoryService.new(self)
     # Even if the service can't remove the physical repository,
     # we should continue removing the associated instance.
-    service.call
-
-    true
+    if service.call
+      true
+    else
+      errors.add(:base, I18n.t('repositories.errors.filesystem_access_failed',
+                               message: I18n.t('repositories.errors.deletion_failed')))
+      raise ActiveRecord::Rollback
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/services/scm/delete_managed_repository_service.rb b/app/services/scm/delete_managed_repository_service.rb
index 65af32e4d1..d8f7a9db49 100644
--- a/app/services/scm/delete_managed_repository_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/scm/delete_managed_repository_service.rb
@@ -60,8 +60,8 @@ Scm::DeleteManagedRepositoryService = Struct.new :repository do
 
     true
   rescue SystemCallError => e
-    Rails.logger.error("An error occurred while accessing the repository '#{repository.root_url}' \
-                        on filesystem: #{e.message}")
+    Rails.logger.error("An error occurred while accessing the repository '#{repository.root_url}'" +
+                       "on filesystem: #{e.message}")
     false
   end
 end
diff --git a/config/locales/en.yml b/config/locales/en.yml
index 9e0385e1cf..5433fba1df 100644
--- a/config/locales/en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/en.yml
@@ -1317,7 +1317,8 @@ en:
       build_failed: "Unable to create the repository with the selected configuration. %{reason}"
       empty_repository: "The repository exists, but is empty. It does not contain any revisions yet."
       exists_on_filesystem: "The repository directory exists already on filesystem."
-      filesystem_access_failed: "An error occurred while accessing the repository on filesystem: %{message}."
+      filesystem_access_failed: "An error occurred while accessing the repository on filesystem: %{message}"
+      deletion_failed: "The repository could not be deleted on disk due to lacking permissions. Please contact your administrator to resolve this issue."
       not_manageable: "This repository vendor cannot be managed by OpenProject."
       path_permission_failed: "An error occurred trying to create the following path: %{path}. Please ensure that OpenProject may write to that folder."
       unauthorized: "You're not authorized to access the repository or the credentials are invalid."