diff --git a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_clean.rs b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_clean.rs
index 10308cd8920..0f0f0adea6d 100644
--- a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_clean.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_clean.rs
@@ -24,14 +24,18 @@ pub struct CleanOptions<'a> {
 
 /// Cleans the package's build artifacts.
 pub fn clean(ws: &Workspace, opts: &CleanOptions) -> CargoResult<()> {
-    let target_dir = ws.target_dir();
+    let mut target_dir = ws.target_dir();
     let config = ws.config();
 
     // If the doc option is set, we just want to delete the doc directory.
     if opts.doc {
-        let target_dir = target_dir.join("doc");
-        let target_dir = target_dir.into_path_unlocked();
-        return rm_rf(&target_dir, config);
+        target_dir = target_dir.join("doc");
+        return rm_rf(&target_dir.into_path_unlocked(), config);
+    }
+
+    // If the release option is set, we set target to release directory
+    if opts.release {
+        target_dir = target_dir.join("release");
     }
 
     // If we have a spec, then we need to delete some packages, otherwise, just
@@ -40,8 +44,7 @@ pub fn clean(ws: &Workspace, opts: &CleanOptions) -> CargoResult<()> {
     // Note that we don't bother grabbing a lock here as we're just going to
     // blow it all away anyway.
     if opts.spec.is_empty() {
-        let target_dir = target_dir.into_path_unlocked();
-        return rm_rf(&target_dir, config);
+        return rm_rf(&target_dir.into_path_unlocked(), config);
     }
 
     let (packages, resolve) = ops::resolve_ws(ws)?;
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/clean.rs b/tests/testsuite/clean.rs
index ea62d062b8a..dc2ac57c4df 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/clean.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/clean.rs
@@ -117,6 +117,13 @@ fn clean_release() {
 [FINISHED] release [optimized] target(s) in [..]
 ",
         ).run();
+
+    p.cargo("build").run();
+
+    p.cargo("clean").arg("--release").run();
+    assert!(p.build_dir().is_dir());
+    assert!(p.build_dir().join("debug").is_dir());
+    assert!(!p.build_dir().join("release").is_dir());
 }
 
 #[test]