diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6b05ce9..df79842 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ A wrapper for the "rm" command with soft-deletes, config-based deletion, debug i
 
 - `-i` Interactivly prompt before each deletion request
 - `-I` Prompt if deleting more than the interactive threshold of files (default 3)
+- `-r`, `-R`, `--recursive` Recursively delete a directory of files
 - `--help` Display help information (without deletion)
 - `--version` Display version information (without deletion)
 
@@ -24,7 +25,6 @@ A wrapper for the "rm" command with soft-deletes, config-based deletion, debug i
 
 ## Unsupported command line arguments
 
-- `-r`, `-R`, `--recursive` Recursively delete a directory of files
 - `-d`, `--dir` Only delete empty directories
 - `-v`, `--verbose` Emit additional verbose information
 - `--version` Show version information
diff --git a/src/patches/rm.go b/src/patches/rm.go
index 512caa4..49184c9 100644
--- a/src/patches/rm.go
+++ b/src/patches/rm.go
@@ -158,27 +158,33 @@ func deletePaths(paths []string, config models.Config, arguments []string) {
 
 		shouldHardDelete := isTmp || forceHardDelete || isConfigHardDelete && !isConfigSoftDelete && !forceSoftDelete
 
-		deletePath(absolutePath, shouldHardDelete, config, arguments)
+		deletePath(absolutePath, shouldHardDelete, config)
 	}
 }
 
-func deletePath(path string, hard bool, config models.Config, arguments []string) {
+func deletePath(path string, hard bool, config models.Config) {
 	if hard {
 		hardDelete(path)
 	} else {
-		// this function will return the default soft delete directory
-		// if the user has not specified one in their config file
-		softDeletePath := config.SoftDeleteDir()
-		softDelete(path, softDeletePath)
+		softDeleteStart(path, config)
 	}
 }
 
+func softDeleteStart(filePath string, config models.Config) {
+	// this function will return the default soft delete directory
+	// if the user has not specified one in their config file
+	softDeletePath := config.SoftDeleteDir()
+	softDelete(filePath, softDeletePath, "")
+}
+
 // by default, we want to delete files to /tmp/2rm
 // however, if the user has specified a different directory in their config file
 // we use that instead
-func softDelete(filePath string, tempDir string) {
-	deletedTimestamp := time.Now().Format(time.RFC3339)
-	backupDirectory := tempDir + deletedTimestamp
+func softDelete(filePath string, tempDir string, backupDirectory string) {
+	if backupDirectory == "" {
+		deletedTimestamp := time.Now().Format(time.RFC3339)
+		backupDirectory = tempDir + deletedTimestamp
+	}
 
 	err := os.MkdirAll(backupDirectory, TRASH_DIR_PERMISSIONS)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -197,6 +203,26 @@ func softDelete(filePath string, tempDir string) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	isDirectory := util.IsDirectory(filePath)
+	if isDirectory {
+		// recursively delete all files in the directory
+		// before deleting the directory itself
+		directoryFiles := util.ListFiles(filePath)
+
+		for _, file := range directoryFiles {
+			softDelete(file, tempDir, backupDirectory)
+		}
+
+		// hard delete the directory itself
+		// because we have replicated the directory structure in the trash can
+		// we don't need to keep the original directory
+		//
+		// TODO: we should probably keep the original directory so that the
+		// same file permissions and other edge cases are carried across
+		hardDelete(filePath)
+		return
+	}
+
 	absoluteSrcPath := relativeToAbsolute(filePath)
 
 	backupFileName := backupFileName(filePath)
diff --git a/src/util/files.go b/src/util/files.go
index 8013743..013181e 100644
--- a/src/util/files.go
+++ b/src/util/files.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 )
 
-func CopyFile(src, dst string) error {
+func CopyFile(src string, dst string) error {
 	sourceFile, err := os.Open(src)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -21,3 +21,27 @@ func CopyFile(src, dst string) error {
 	_, err = io.Copy(destFile, sourceFile)
 	return err
 }
+
+func IsDirectory(path string) bool {
+	fileInfo, err := os.Stat(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	return fileInfo.IsDir()
+}
+
+func ListFiles(directory string) []string {
+	files, err := os.ReadDir(directory)
+	if err != nil {
+		return []string{}
+	}
+
+	var fileNames []string
+	for _, file := range files {
+		relativeName := directory + "/" + file.Name()
+		fileNames = append(fileNames, relativeName)
+	}
+
+	return fileNames
+}