diff --git a/remove.c b/remove.c
index 8738851..2163802 100644
--- a/remove.c
+++ b/remove.c
@@ -5,9 +5,11 @@
 #include <pthread.h>
 #include <sched.h>
 #include <stdatomic.h>
+#include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
+#include <sys/resource.h>
 #include <threads.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
@@ -25,6 +27,8 @@ struct task {
 	struct task *parent;
 	/* reference counting */
 	unsigned files;
+	/* stores the dirfd for this path or -1 */
+	int dfd;
 	atomic_uint removed_count;
 };
 
@@ -41,6 +45,10 @@ static pthread_mutex_t fd_mtx = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 static pthread_cond_t fd_cond = PTHREAD_COND_INITIALIZER;
 
 static unsigned nproc;
+/* is true if number of available fds is smaller than number of threads being used */
+static bool limited_fds;
+/* stores amount of additional fds that can be used beyond the one per thread */
+static atomic_int dfd_max;
 
 /* p_old is a struct task cache; this means each thread can leak one struct task in total */
 static thread_local struct task *p_old = NULL;
@@ -98,6 +106,19 @@ static inline void queue_remove(struct queue *q, struct task *t)
 	pthread_mutex_unlock(&q->mtx);
 }
 
+static void close_dfd(const struct task *t)
+{
+	if (t->dfd == -1) return;
+	close(t->dfd);
+	atomic_fetch_add_explicit(&dfd_max, 1, memory_order_relaxed);
+}
+
+static int rmdir_parent(const struct task *t)
+{
+	int rfd = (t->parent && t->parent->dfd != -1) ? t->parent->dfd : AT_FDCWD;
+	return unlinkat(rfd, t->path, AT_REMOVEDIR);
+}
+
 static inline void recurse_into_parents(struct task *t)
 {
 	struct task *recurse = t, *free_list = NULL;
@@ -110,7 +131,7 @@ static inline void recurse_into_parents(struct task *t)
 		printf("parent: removed %04d total %04d '%s'\n", rc, recurse->files, recurse->path);
 		if (rc == recurse->files) {
 			/* we have removed all files in the directory */
-			if (rmdir(recurse->path)) {
+			if (rmdir_parent(recurse)) {
 				fprintf(stderr, "rec rmdir failed '%s': %m\n", recurse->path);
 			} else {
 				printf("rec rmdir succeeded '%s'\n", recurse->path);
@@ -118,6 +139,7 @@ static inline void recurse_into_parents(struct task *t)
 			free(recurse->path);
 
 			/* can't free now because the while condition uses it */
+			close_dfd(recurse);
 			if (p_old) free_list = recurse;
 			else p_old = recurse;
 		} else {
@@ -138,8 +160,9 @@ static void *process_queue_item(void *arg)
 		queue_remove(q, &t);
 
 		int dfd;
-		while ((dfd = open(t.path, O_RDONLY|O_DIRECTORY|O_NOFOLLOW|O_CLOEXEC)) < 0) {
-			if (errno == EMFILE) {
+		int rfd = (t.parent && t.parent->dfd != -1) ? t.parent->dfd : AT_FDCWD;
+		while ((dfd = openat(rfd, t.path, O_RDONLY|O_DIRECTORY|O_NOFOLLOW|O_CLOEXEC)) < 0) {
+			if (limited_fds && errno == EMFILE) {
 				pthread_mutex_lock(&fd_mtx);
 				pthread_cond_wait(&fd_cond, &fd_mtx);
 				pthread_mutex_unlock(&fd_mtx);
@@ -187,36 +210,54 @@ fast_path_dir:
 					puts("didn't use p_old");
 				}
 				*p = t;
+				p->dfd = -1;
 				/* access happens only after mutex lock and release */
 				atomic_store_explicit(&p->removed_count, ACQUIRED, memory_order_relaxed);
 
-				plen = strlen(t.path);
+				if (!limited_fds) {
+					if (atomic_fetch_sub_explicit(&dfd_max, 1, memory_order_relaxed) > 0) {
+						/* we need to duplicate the fd due to calling closedir() below */
+						p->dfd = dup(dfd);
+					} else {
+						atomic_fetch_add_explicit(&dfd_max, 1, memory_order_relaxed);
+						/* we only use plen for absolute paths */
+						plen = strlen(t.path);
+					}
+				}
 			}
 
-			size_t nlen = strlen(entry->d_name);
-			char *buf = malloc(plen + nlen + 2);
-			memcpy(buf, p->path, plen);
-			buf[plen] = '/';
-			memcpy(buf+plen+1, entry->d_name, nlen);
-			buf[plen+nlen+1] = '\0';
+			char *buf;
+			if (p->dfd == -1) {
+				size_t nlen = strlen(entry->d_name);
+				buf = malloc(plen + nlen + 2);
+				memcpy(buf, p->path, plen);
+				buf[plen] = '/';
+				memcpy(buf+plen+1, entry->d_name, nlen);
+				buf[plen+nlen+1] = '\0';
+			} else {
+				buf = strdup(entry->d_name);
+			}
 
 			printf("adding to queue'%s'\n", buf);
 			queue_add(q, buf, p);
 		}
 		closedir(d);
-		pthread_mutex_lock(&fd_mtx);
-		pthread_cond_signal(&fd_cond);
-		pthread_mutex_unlock(&fd_mtx);
+		if (limited_fds) {
+			pthread_mutex_lock(&fd_mtx);
+			pthread_cond_signal(&fd_cond);
+			pthread_mutex_unlock(&fd_mtx);
+		}
 
 		if (p) {
 			p->files = n-1; /* other thread will compare against removed_count-1 */
 			unsigned rc = atomic_fetch_and_explicit(&p->removed_count, ~ACQUIRED, memory_order_release);
 			if (rc == (n|ACQUIRED)) {
 				/* this branch is taken when other threads have already removed all of p's children */
+				close_dfd(p);
 				if (p_old) free(p);
 				else p_old = p;
 
-				if (rmdir(t.path)) {
+				if (rmdir_parent(&t)) {
 					fprintf(stderr, "atomic rmdir failed '%s': %m\n", t.path);
 				} else {
 					printf("atomic rmdir succeeded '%s'\n", t.path);
@@ -227,7 +268,7 @@ fast_path_dir:
 			}
 		} else {
 			/* p wasn't set because we could delete everything inside it */
-			if (rmdir(t.path)) {
+			if (rmdir_parent(&t)) {
 				fprintf(stderr, "fast path rmdir failed '%s': %m\n", t.path);
 			} else {
 				printf("fast path rmdir succeeded '%s'\n", t.path);
@@ -255,10 +296,14 @@ void run_queue(void)
 	if (nproc_l > 64) nproc_l = 64;
 	nproc = nproc_l;
 
+	struct rlimit rl;
+	if (getrlimit(RLIMIT_NOFILE, &rl)) exit_init();
+	/* soft limit minus open std streams and minus directory fds from each thread */
+	if (rl.rlim_cur < nproc + 2) limited_fds = true;
+	else atomic_store_explicit(&dfd_max, rl.rlim_cur - 2 - nproc, memory_order_relaxed);
 
 	/* main thread will also be a task */
 	unsigned nproc1 = nproc - 1;
-
 	if (nproc1) {
 		pthread_attr_t pattr;
 		if (pthread_attr_init(&pattr)) exit_init();