diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5953a19..00b28af 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 build.log
 *.sw[op]
+TODO
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 26879b1..db7c9cd 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ while [ ${#} -gt 0 ]; do
 case ${1} in
 -c)	ARG_CLEAN=1; ;;
 -nd)	ARG_NO_DOWNLOAD=1; ;;
+-pt)	ARG_PEDANTIC=1; ;;
 -r)	[ -n "${ARG_RESTART_SCRIPT}" ] && exec cat build.usage;
 	match_any "${2}" :								\
 		&& { ARG_RESTART_SCRIPT="${2%%:*}"; ARG_RESTART_SCRIPT_AT="${2##*:}"; }	\
diff --git a/build.subr b/build.subr
index 4856077..30a45fa 100644
--- a/build.subr
+++ b/build.subr
@@ -75,8 +75,22 @@ find_with_no_paths() {
 rm_if_exists() {
 	[ -z "${1#-m}" ] && { _rie_arg_m=1; shift; };
 	[ -z "${1#-c}" ] && { _rie_arg_c=1; shift; };
-	[ -d ${1} -o -f ${1} ] && rm -rf ${1};
-	[ ${_rie_arg_m:-0} -eq 1 ] && { mkdir ${1}; unset _rie_arg_m; };
+	if [ -d ${1} -o -f ${1} ]; then
+		log_msg warn "Removing directory or file \`${1}'.";
+		if [ ${ARG_PEDANTIC:-0} -eq 1 ]; then
+			printf "Confirm deletion (y|N) ";
+			read _rie_prompt; case "${_rie_prompt}" in
+				[yY])	rm -rf ${1}; ;;
+				*)	log_msg warn "Skipping removal of \`${1}'.";
+					_rie_arg_m=0; ;;
+			esac;
+		else 
+			rm -rf ${1};
+		fi;
+	fi;
+	[ ${_rie_arg_m:-0} -eq 1 ] && {
+		log_msg warn "Making directory \`${1}'.";
+		mkdir ${1}; unset _rie_arg_m; };
 	[ ${_rie_arg_c:-0} -eq 1 ] && { cd ${1}; unset _rie_arg_c; };
 	return 0;
 };
@@ -231,6 +245,7 @@ log_msg() {
 		fail) printf "\033[${LOG_MSG_FAIL_COLOUR}m"; ;;
 		info) printf "\033[${LOG_MSG_INFO_COLOUR}m"; ;;
 		succ) printf "\033[${LOG_MSG_SUCC_COLOUR}m"; ;;
+		warn) printf "\033[${LOG_MSG_WARN_COLOUR}m"; ;;
 	esac;
 	if [ $# -gt 1 ]; then
 		printf "==> %s %s %s\033[0m\n" "$(date "${TIMESTAMP_FMT}")" "${1}" "$*";
diff --git a/build.usage b/build.usage
index ea09ad1..c4d33da 100644
--- a/build.usage
+++ b/build.usage
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 usage: ./build.sh [-c] [-nd] [-r ALL|name[:step]] [-h] [-t]
         -c                     Clean $PREFIX before processing build scripts.
         -nd                    Don't rm(1) and re-download tarballs when not required.
+        -h                     Show this screen.
+        -pt                    Enable pedantic mode. In addition to the warnings emitted
+                               whenever a potentially dangerous operation is invoked by
+                               the build scripts, manual confirmation will be required.
+                               This currently only includes rm_if_exists().
         -r ALL|name[:step]     Restart all or the specified build script(s) completely
                                or at the optionally specified build step. Currently defined
                                build steps are: fetch extract patch configure clean build
                                install configure1 configure2 build1 build2 install1 install2.
-        -h                     Show this screen.
         -t                     Produce a distribution tarball containing $PREFIX
                                sans $WORKDIR and $PREFIX/src/midipix_build at the end of a
                                build with zero failures.
diff --git a/build.vars b/build.vars
index a534d03..04f99c7 100644
--- a/build.vars
+++ b/build.vars
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 : ${LOG_MSG_FAIL_COLOUR:=91};
 : ${LOG_MSG_INFO_COLOUR:=93};
 : ${LOG_MSG_SUCC_COLOUR:=92};
+: ${LOG_MSG_WARN_COLOUR:=96};
 : ${MAKEFLAGS_DEFAULT:=-j8};
 : ${TARBALL_FNAME_PREFIX:=midipix.};
 : ${TARBALL_EXCLUDE_PATHS:="src tmp"};