diff --git a/git-filter-branch.sh b/git-filter-branch.sh
index 59cf023d5da068..efef732202fb10 100755
--- a/git-filter-branch.sh
+++ b/git-filter-branch.sh
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ while read commit parents; do
 			die "Could not checkout the index"
 		# files that $commit removed are now still in the working tree;
 		# remove them, else they would be added again
-		git ls-files -z --others | xargs -0 rm -f
+		git clean -q -f -x
 		eval "$filter_tree" < /dev/null ||
 			die "tree filter failed: $filter_tree"