diff --git a/lisp/vc/vc.el b/lisp/vc/vc.el
index 4a6ae7e4290..8f0e9e5bdc4 100644
--- a/lisp/vc/vc.el
+++ b/lisp/vc/vc.el
@@ -1719,7 +1719,7 @@ from which to check out the file(s)."
             (t
              (vc-register vc-fileset))))
      ((eq state 'missing)
-      (vc-delete-file files))
+      (vc-delete-file fileset-only-files))
      ;; Files are up-to-date, or need a merge and user specified a revision
      ((or (eq state 'up-to-date) (and verbose (eq state 'needs-update)))
       (cond