diff --git a/deployment/libvirt/cleanup_network.sh b/deployment/libvirt/cleanup_network.sh
index ebace0bb..a783a8c0 100755
--- a/deployment/libvirt/cleanup_network.sh
+++ b/deployment/libvirt/cleanup_network.sh
@@ -2,13 +2,17 @@
 #
 # cleanup_network.sh - Cleans up network interfaces - not safe to run blindly!
 
+MY_WORKING_DIR="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" )"
+
+source ${MY_WORKING_DIR}/functions.sh
+
 NETWORK_DEFAULT=${NETWORK_DEFAULT:-default}
 BRIDGE_INTERFACE=${BRIDGE_INTERFACE=stxbr0}
 
 if virsh net-list --name | grep ${NETWORK_DEFAULT} ; then
     sudo virsh net-destroy ${NETWORK_DEFAULT}
     sudo virsh net-undefine ${NETWORK_DEFAULT}
-    sudo rm -rf /etc/libvirt/qemu/networks/autostart/${NETWORK_DEFAULT}.xml
+    delete_xml /etc/libvirt/qemu/networks/autostart/${NETWORK_DEFAULT}.xml
 fi
 
 if [ -d "/sys/class/net/${BRIDGE_INTERFACE}" ]; then
diff --git a/deployment/libvirt/destroy_allinone.sh b/deployment/libvirt/destroy_allinone.sh
index 9389c16b..7bed6be1 100755
--- a/deployment/libvirt/destroy_allinone.sh
+++ b/deployment/libvirt/destroy_allinone.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
+MY_WORKING_DIR="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" )"
+
+source ${MY_WORKING_DIR}/functions.sh
+
 BRIDGE_INTERFACE=${BRIDGE_INTERFACE:-stxbr}
 CONTROLLER=${CONTROLLER:-controller-allinone}
 DOMAIN_DIRECTORY=vms
@@ -14,8 +18,8 @@ for i in {0..1}; do
             sudo virsh destroy ${CONTROLLER_NODE}
         fi
         sudo virsh undefine ${CONTROLLER_NODE}
-        sudo rm -rf /var/lib/libvirt/images/${CONTROLLER_NODE}-0.img
-        sudo rm -rf /var/lib/libvirt/images/${CONTROLLER_NODE}-1.img
-        [ -e ${DOMAIN_FILE} ] && rm ${DOMAIN_FILE}
+        delete_disk /var/lib/libvirt/images/${CONTROLLER_NODE}-0.img
+        delete_disk /var/lib/libvirt/images/${CONTROLLER_NODE}-1.img
+        [ -e ${DOMAIN_FILE} ] && delete_xml ${DOMAIN_FILE}
     fi
 done
diff --git a/deployment/libvirt/destroy_standard_controller.sh b/deployment/libvirt/destroy_standard_controller.sh
index d74292c5..0d65ce91 100755
--- a/deployment/libvirt/destroy_standard_controller.sh
+++ b/deployment/libvirt/destroy_standard_controller.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
+MY_WORKING_DIR="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" )"
+
+source ${MY_WORKING_DIR}/functions.sh
+
 BRIDGE_INTERFACE=${BRIDGE_INTERFACE:-stxbr}
 CONTROLLER=${CONTROLLER:-controller}
 COMPUTE=${COMPUTE:-compute}
@@ -15,9 +19,9 @@ for i in {0..1}; do
             sudo virsh destroy ${CONTROLLER_NODE}
         fi
         sudo virsh undefine ${CONTROLLER_NODE}
-        sudo rm -rf /var/lib/libvirt/images/${CONTROLLER_NODE}-0.img
-        sudo rm -rf /var/lib/libvirt/images/${CONTROLLER_NODE}-1.img
-        [ -e ${DOMAIN_FILE} ] && rm ${DOMAIN_FILE}
+        delete_disk /var/lib/libvirt/images/${CONTROLLER_NODE}-0.img
+        delete_disk /var/lib/libvirt/images/${CONTROLLER_NODE}-1.img
+        [ -e ${DOMAIN_FILE} ] && delete_xml ${DOMAIN_FILE}
     fi
 done
 
@@ -31,8 +35,8 @@ for i in {0..1}; do
             sudo virsh destroy ${COMPUTE_NODE}
         fi
         sudo virsh undefine ${COMPUTE_NODE}
-        sudo rm -rf /var/lib/libvirt/images/${COMPUTE_NODE}-0.img
-        sudo rm -rf /var/lib/libvirt/images/${COMPUTE_NODE}-1.img
-        [ -e ${DOMAIN_FILE} ] && rm ${DOMAIN_FILE}
+        delete_disk /var/lib/libvirt/images/${COMPUTE_NODE}-0.img
+        delete_disk /var/lib/libvirt/images/${COMPUTE_NODE}-1.img
+        [ -e ${DOMAIN_FILE} ] && delete_xml ${DOMAIN_FILE}
     fi
 done
diff --git a/deployment/libvirt/functions.sh b/deployment/libvirt/functions.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..63179d1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deployment/libvirt/functions.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# delete a node's disk file in a safe way
+delete_disk() {
+    local fpath="$1"
+
+    if [ ! -f "$fpath" ]; then
+        echo "file to delete is not a regular file: $fpath" >&2
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    file -b "$fpath" | grep -q "^QEMU QCOW Image (v3),"
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+        echo "file to delete is not QEMU QCOW Image (v3): $fpath" >&2
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    sudo rm "$fpath"
+}
+
+# delete an xml file in a safe way
+delete_xml() {
+    local fpath="$1"
+
+    if [ ! -f "$fpath" ]; then
+        echo "file to delete is not a regular file: $fpath" >&2
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    file -b "$fpath" | grep -q "^ASCII text$"
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+        echo "file to delete is not ASCII text: $fpath" >&2
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    sudo rm "$fpath"
+}
+