diff --git a/perl-xCAT/xCAT/ProfiledNodeUtils.pm b/perl-xCAT/xCAT/ProfiledNodeUtils.pm
index 4c634072d..9b063e776 100644
--- a/perl-xCAT/xCAT/ProfiledNodeUtils.pm
+++ b/perl-xCAT/xCAT/ProfiledNodeUtils.pm
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ package xCAT::ProfiledNodeUtils;
 use strict;
 use warnings;
 use Socket;
-use File::Path qw/mkpath/;
+use File::Path qw/mkpath rmtree/;
 use File::Temp qw/tempfile/;
 use Fcntl qw(:flock);
 require xCAT::Table;
@@ -1585,3 +1585,36 @@ sub cal_netboot {
         return 0;
     }
 }
+
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+=head3 remove_node_config_files
+      Description : Remove the autoinstall configuration of each node in a list.
+      Arguments   : $config_dir - the autoinstall directory, normally /install/autoinst
+                    $nodes - reference to the list of node names
+      Returns     : N/A
+      Example     :
+                    xCAT::ProfiledNodeUtils->remove_node_config_files("/install/autoinst", \@nodes);
+=cut
+
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+sub remove_node_config_files {
+    my $class      = shift;
+    my $config_dir = shift;
+    my $nodes      = shift;
+
+    foreach my $one_node (@$nodes) {
+        foreach my $suffix ("", ".pre", ".post") {
+            my $path = "$config_dir/$one_node$suffix";
+            next unless (-e $path);
+
+            # mkinstall writes a directory here for a Subiquity node, with meta-data,
+            # user-data and vendor-data in it. unlink cannot remove a directory.
+            if (-d $path) {
+                rmtree($path);
+            } else {
+                unlink $path;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/profilednodes.pm b/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/profilednodes.pm
index 1f4a6d159..c60b5fe37 100644
--- a/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/profilednodes.pm
+++ b/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/profilednodes.pm
@@ -735,20 +735,8 @@ Usage:
             $warnstr .= "Details: $retstrref->[1]";
         }
     }
-    # For each node in the noderange remove its configureation files in $config_dir, if file exists
     setrsp_progress("Removing configuration files...");
-    my $config_dir = "/install/autoinst/";
-    foreach my $one_node (@$nodes) {
-        if ( -e "$config_dir/$one_node") {
-            unlink "$config_dir/$one_node";
-        }
-        if ( -e "$config_dir/$one_node.post") {
-            unlink "$config_dir/$one_node.post";
-        }
-        if ( -e "$config_dir/$one_node.pre") {
-            unlink "$config_dir/$one_node.pre";
-        }
-    }
+    xCAT::ProfiledNodeUtils->remove_node_config_files("/install/autoinst", $nodes);
     setrsp_progress("Removed all nodes.");
     setrsp_success($nodes, $warnstr);
 }
diff --git a/xCAT-test/unit/nodepurge_autoinst_cleanup.t b/xCAT-test/unit/nodepurge_autoinst_cleanup.t
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..19093fc03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xCAT-test/unit/nodepurge_autoinst_cleanup.t
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env perl
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use File::Path qw(mkpath);
+use File::Slurper qw(write_text);
+use File::Temp qw(tempdir);
+use FindBin;
+use Test::More;
+
+use lib "$FindBin::Bin/../../perl-xCAT";
+use xCAT::ProfiledNodeUtils;
+
+# nodepurge deletes the autoinstall configuration of each node it removes. mkinstall writes that
+# configuration as a directory for a Subiquity node and as a plain file for preseed and kickstart,
+# so the cleanup must remove both shapes.
+
+my $dir = tempdir(CLEANUP => 1);
+
+# A Subiquity node: cloud-init files in a directory named after the node.
+mkpath("$dir/subiquitynode");
+write_text("$dir/subiquitynode/$_", "x\n") for qw(meta-data user-data vendor-data);
+
+# A preseed node: a plain file, with its .pre and .post scripts.
+write_text("$dir/$_", "x\n") for qw(preseednode preseednode.pre preseednode.post);
+
+# othernode is not in the node list, so the routine must leave it alone.
+write_text("$dir/othernode", "x\n");
+
+# neverinstalled has no configuration at all, so the routine must not die on it.
+xCAT::ProfiledNodeUtils->remove_node_config_files(
+    $dir, ['subiquitynode', 'preseednode', 'neverinstalled']);
+
+ok(!-e "$dir/subiquitynode",    'the autoinstall directory of a Subiquity node is removed');
+ok(!-e "$dir/preseednode",      'the autoinstall file of a preseed node is removed');
+ok(!-e "$dir/preseednode.pre",  'the .pre script of a preseed node is removed');
+ok(!-e "$dir/preseednode.post", 'the .post script of a preseed node is removed');
+ok(-e "$dir/othernode",         'a node outside the node list keeps its configuration');
+
+done_testing();