diff --git a/cmd/serve/s3/backend.go b/cmd/serve/s3/backend.go
index 397760102..4e88e418f 100644
--- a/cmd/serve/s3/backend.go
+++ b/cmd/serve/s3/backend.go
@@ -77,13 +77,9 @@ func (b *s3Backend) ListBucket(bucket string, prefix *gofakes3.Prefix, page gofa
 	}
 
 	response := gofakes3.NewObjectList()
-	if b.vfs.Fs().Features().BucketBased || prefix.HasDelimiter && prefix.Delimiter != "/" {
-		err = b.getObjectsListArbitrary(bucket, prefix, response)
-	} else {
-		path, remaining := prefixParser(prefix)
-		err = b.entryListR(bucket, path, remaining, prefix.HasDelimiter, response)
-	}
+	path, remaining := prefixParser(prefix)
 
+	err = b.entryListR(bucket, path, remaining, prefix.HasDelimiter, response)
 	if err == gofakes3.ErrNoSuchKey {
 		// AWS just returns an empty list
 		response = gofakes3.NewObjectList()
@@ -366,9 +362,7 @@ func (b *s3Backend) deleteObject(bucketName, objectName string) error {
 	}
 
 	// FIXME: unsafe operation
-	if b.vfs.Fs().Features().CanHaveEmptyDirectories {
-		rmdirRecursive(fp, b.vfs)
-	}
+	rmdirRecursive(fp, b.vfs)
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/serve/s3/list.go b/cmd/serve/s3/list.go
index 93f0f87e3..d23736152 100644
--- a/cmd/serve/s3/list.go
+++ b/cmd/serve/s3/list.go
@@ -1,16 +1,13 @@
 package s3
 
 import (
-	"context"
 	"path"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/Mikubill/gofakes3"
-	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs"
-	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/walk"
 )
 
-func (b *s3Backend) entryListR(bucket, fdPath, name string, acceptComPrefix bool, response *gofakes3.ObjectList) error {
+func (b *s3Backend) entryListR(bucket, fdPath, name string, addPrefix bool, response *gofakes3.ObjectList) error {
 	fp := path.Join(bucket, fdPath)
 
 	dirEntries, err := getDirEntries(fp, b.vfs)
@@ -29,7 +26,7 @@ func (b *s3Backend) entryListR(bucket, fdPath, name string, acceptComPrefix bool
 		}
 
 		if entry.IsDir() {
-			if acceptComPrefix {
+			if addPrefix {
 				response.AddPrefix(gofakes3.URLEncode(objectPath))
 				continue
 			}
@@ -50,36 +47,3 @@ func (b *s3Backend) entryListR(bucket, fdPath, name string, acceptComPrefix bool
 	}
 	return nil
 }
-
-// getObjectsList lists the objects in the given bucket.
-func (b *s3Backend) getObjectsListArbitrary(bucket string, prefix *gofakes3.Prefix, response *gofakes3.ObjectList) error {
-	// ignore error - vfs may have uncommitted updates, such as new dir etc.
-	_ = walk.ListR(context.Background(), b.vfs.Fs(), bucket, false, -1, walk.ListObjects, func(entries fs.DirEntries) error {
-		for _, entry := range entries {
-			entry := entry.(fs.Object)
-			objName := entry.Remote()
-			object := strings.TrimPrefix(objName, bucket)[1:]
-
-			var matchResult gofakes3.PrefixMatch
-			if prefix.Match(object, &matchResult) {
-				if matchResult.CommonPrefix {
-					response.AddPrefix(gofakes3.URLEncode(object))
-					continue
-				}
-
-				item := &gofakes3.Content{
-					Key:          gofakes3.URLEncode(object),
-					LastModified: gofakes3.NewContentTime(entry.ModTime(context.Background())),
-					ETag:         getFileHash(entry),
-					Size:         entry.Size(),
-					StorageClass: gofakes3.StorageStandard,
-				}
-				response.Add(item)
-			}
-		}
-
-		return nil
-	})
-
-	return nil
-}