diff --git a/common/network-common/pom.xml b/common/network-common/pom.xml
index 5444ae6d70..12d89273d7 100644
--- a/common/network-common/pom.xml
+++ b/common/network-common/pom.xml
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@
       <groupId>io.netty</groupId>
       <artifactId>netty-all</artifactId>
     </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+      <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
+    </dependency>
 
     <!-- Provided dependencies -->
     <dependency>
diff --git a/common/network-common/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/network/util/JavaUtils.java b/common/network-common/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/network/util/JavaUtils.java
index fbed2f053d..eb534eed24 100644
--- a/common/network-common/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/network/util/JavaUtils.java
+++ b/common/network-common/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/network/util/JavaUtils.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
 import io.netty.buffer.Unpooled;
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.SystemUtils;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
@@ -79,14 +80,32 @@ public class JavaUtils {
     return Unpooled.wrappedBuffer(b).toString(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
   }
 
-  /*
+  /**
    * Delete a file or directory and its contents recursively.
    * Don't follow directories if they are symlinks.
-   * Throws an exception if deletion is unsuccessful.
+   *
+   * @param file Input file / dir to be deleted
+   * @throws IOException if deletion is unsuccessful
    */
   public static void deleteRecursively(File file) throws IOException {
     if (file == null) { return; }
 
+    // On Unix systems, use operating system command to run faster
+    // If that does not work out, fallback to the Java IO way
+    if (SystemUtils.IS_OS_UNIX) {
+      try {
+        deleteRecursivelyUsingUnixNative(file);
+        return;
+      } catch (IOException e) {
+        logger.warn("Attempt to delete using native Unix OS command failed for path = {}. " +
+                        "Falling back to Java IO way", file.getAbsolutePath(), e);
+      }
+    }
+
+    deleteRecursivelyUsingJavaIO(file);
+  }
+
+  private static void deleteRecursivelyUsingJavaIO(File file) throws IOException {
     if (file.isDirectory() && !isSymlink(file)) {
       IOException savedIOException = null;
       for (File child : listFilesSafely(file)) {
@@ -109,6 +128,32 @@ public class JavaUtils {
     }
   }
 
+  private static void deleteRecursivelyUsingUnixNative(File file) throws IOException {
+    ProcessBuilder builder = new ProcessBuilder("rm", "-rf", file.getAbsolutePath());
+    Process process = null;
+    int exitCode = -1;
+
+    try {
+      // In order to avoid deadlocks, consume the stdout (and stderr) of the process
+      builder.redirectErrorStream(true);
+      builder.redirectOutput(new File("/dev/null"));
+
+      process = builder.start();
+
+      exitCode = process.waitFor();
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      throw new IOException("Failed to delete: " + file.getAbsolutePath(), e);
+    } finally {
+      if (process != null && process.isAlive()) {
+        process.destroy();
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (exitCode != 0 || file.exists()) {
+      throw new IOException("Failed to delete: " + file.getAbsolutePath());
+    }
+  }
+
   private static File[] listFilesSafely(File file) throws IOException {
     if (file.exists()) {
       File[] files = file.listFiles();
diff --git a/common/network-shuffle/src/test/java/org/apache/spark/network/shuffle/TestShuffleDataContext.java b/common/network-shuffle/src/test/java/org/apache/spark/network/shuffle/TestShuffleDataContext.java
index 62a1fb42b0..81e01949e5 100644
--- a/common/network-shuffle/src/test/java/org/apache/spark/network/shuffle/TestShuffleDataContext.java
+++ b/common/network-shuffle/src/test/java/org/apache/spark/network/shuffle/TestShuffleDataContext.java
@@ -27,12 +27,17 @@ import com.google.common.io.Closeables;
 import com.google.common.io.Files;
 
 import org.apache.spark.network.shuffle.protocol.ExecutorShuffleInfo;
+import org.apache.spark.network.util.JavaUtils;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 /**
  * Manages some sort-shuffle data, including the creation
  * and cleanup of directories that can be read by the {@link ExternalShuffleBlockResolver}.
  */
 public class TestShuffleDataContext {
+  private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(TestShuffleDataContext.class);
+
   public final String[] localDirs;
   public final int subDirsPerLocalDir;
 
@@ -53,7 +58,11 @@ public class TestShuffleDataContext {
 
   public void cleanup() {
     for (String localDir : localDirs) {
-      deleteRecursively(new File(localDir));
+      try {
+        JavaUtils.deleteRecursively(new File(localDir));
+      } catch (IOException e) {
+        logger.warn("Unable to cleanup localDir = " + localDir, e);
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -92,17 +101,4 @@ public class TestShuffleDataContext {
   public ExecutorShuffleInfo createExecutorInfo(String shuffleManager) {
     return new ExecutorShuffleInfo(localDirs, subDirsPerLocalDir, shuffleManager);
   }
-
-  private static void deleteRecursively(File f) {
-    assert f != null;
-    if (f.isDirectory()) {
-      File[] children = f.listFiles();
-      if (children != null) {
-        for (File child : children) {
-          deleteRecursively(child);
-        }
-      }
-    }
-    f.delete();
-  }
 }