diff --git a/pkg/tree/ops/deletebranch.go b/pkg/tree/ops/deletebranch.go
index fe00ed30..6bae97c0 100644
--- a/pkg/tree/ops/deletebranch.go
+++ b/pkg/tree/ops/deletebranch.go
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ func DeleteBranch(ctx context.Context, e api.Entry, path *sdcpb.Path, owner stri
 	// if the relativePath is present, we need to naviagate
 	entry, err = NavigateSdcpbPath(ctx, e, path)
 	if err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, ErrNavigateSdcpbPathNotFound) {
+			return nil
+		}
 		return err
 	}
 	if entry == nil {
diff --git a/pkg/tree/ops/navigatesdcpbpath.go b/pkg/tree/ops/navigatesdcpbpath.go
index 64798ee6..09a079b0 100644
--- a/pkg/tree/ops/navigatesdcpbpath.go
+++ b/pkg/tree/ops/navigatesdcpbpath.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package ops
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/sdcio/data-server/pkg/tree/api"
@@ -10,9 +11,9 @@ import (
 	sdcpb "github.com/sdcio/sdc-protos/sdcpb"
 )
 
-var (
-	ErrNavigateSdcpbPathNotFound = fmt.Errorf("path not found in tree")
-)
+// ErrNavigateSdcpbPathNotFound is returned (wrapped) when tree navigation cannot
+// resolve a path segment. Delete-by-path callers (e.g. DeleteBranch) treat this as idempotent.
+var ErrNavigateSdcpbPathNotFound = errors.New("path not found in tree")
 
 func NavigateSdcpbPath(ctx context.Context, e api.Entry, path *sdcpb.Path) (api.Entry, error) {
 	if e == nil {
diff --git a/pkg/tree/sharedEntryAttributes_test.go b/pkg/tree/sharedEntryAttributes_test.go
index f5c333a3..5424d623 100644
--- a/pkg/tree/sharedEntryAttributes_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tree/sharedEntryAttributes_test.go
@@ -198,6 +198,8 @@ func Test_sharedEntryAttributes_DeleteSubtree(t *testing.T) {
 		sharedEntryAttributes func(t *testing.T) api.Entry
 		args                  args
 		wantErr               bool
+		// skipLeafCheck: path may not exist; idempotent DeleteBranch returns nil without deleting anything.
+		skipLeafCheck bool
 	}{
 		{
 			name: "one",
@@ -275,7 +277,8 @@ func Test_sharedEntryAttributes_DeleteSubtree(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 				owner: owner1,
 			},
-			wantErr: true,
+			wantErr:       false,
+			skipLeafCheck: true,
 		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
@@ -289,6 +292,9 @@ func Test_sharedEntryAttributes_DeleteSubtree(t *testing.T) {
 			if tt.wantErr {
 				return
 			}
+			if tt.skipLeafCheck {
+				return
+			}
 			e, err := ops.NavigateSdcpbPath(ctx, s, tt.args.relativePath)
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Error(err)