diff --git a/src/cli_plugin/install/cleanup.js b/src/cli_plugin/install/cleanup.js
index fa4bdcf4f6966..eaa25962ef0e4 100644
--- a/src/cli_plugin/install/cleanup.js
+++ b/src/cli_plugin/install/cleanup.js
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ export function cleanPrevious(settings, logger) {
 
       logger.log('Found previous install attempt. Deleting...');
       try {
-        del.sync(settings.workingPath);
+        del.sync(settings.workingPath, { force: true });
       } catch (e) {
         reject(e);
       }
diff --git a/src/cli_plugin/install/install.js b/src/cli_plugin/install/install.js
index 5a341e67dc128..92be2ac250320 100644
--- a/src/cli_plugin/install/install.js
+++ b/src/cli_plugin/install/install.js
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export default async function install(settings, logger) {
 
     await extract(settings, logger);
 
-    del.sync(settings.tempArchiveFile);
+    del.sync(settings.tempArchiveFile, { force: true });
 
     existingInstall(settings, logger);
 
diff --git a/src/cli_plugin/remove/remove.js b/src/cli_plugin/remove/remove.js
index 8432d0f44836b..353e592390ff4 100644
--- a/src/cli_plugin/remove/remove.js
+++ b/src/cli_plugin/remove/remove.js
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ export default function remove(settings, logger) {
     }
 
     logger.log(`Removing ${settings.plugin}...`);
-    del.sync(settings.pluginPath);
+    del.sync(settings.pluginPath, { force: true });
     logger.log('Plugin removal complete');
   } catch (err) {
     logger.error(`Unable to remove plugin because of error: "${err.message}"`);
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/browsers/chromium/driver_factory/index.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/browsers/chromium/driver_factory/index.ts
index 1a57408f41dd6..553a0234e4fb2 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/browsers/chromium/driver_factory/index.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/browsers/chromium/driver_factory/index.ts
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ export class HeadlessChromiumDriverFactory {
         logger.debug(`deleting chromium user data directory at [${userDataDir}]`);
         // the unsubscribe function isn't `async` so we're going to make our best effort at
         // deleting the userDataDir and if it fails log an error.
-        del(userDataDir).catch(error => {
+        del(userDataDir, { force: true }).catch(error => {
           logger.error(`error deleting user data directory at [${userDataDir}]: [${error}]`);
         });
       });
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/browsers/download/clean.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/browsers/download/clean.ts
index 4355a6a0a1773..a2d1fc7f91a29 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/browsers/download/clean.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/browsers/download/clean.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export async function clean(dir: string, expectedPaths: string[]) {
     const path = resolvePath(dir, filename);
     if (!expectedPaths.includes(path)) {
       log(`Deleting unexpected file ${path}`);
-      await del(path);
+      await del(path, { force: true });
     }
   });
 }