diff --git a/service/storage_service.cc b/service/storage_service.cc
index f4c5249a60..239ecdaee7 100644
--- a/service/storage_service.cc
+++ b/service/storage_service.cc
@@ -1317,6 +1317,29 @@ future<> storage_service::take_column_family_snapshot(sstring ks_name, sstring c
     });
 }
 
+// For the filesystem operations, this code will assume that all keyspaces are visible in all shards
+// (as we have been doing for a lot of the other operations, like the snapshot itself).
+future<> storage_service::clear_snapshot(sstring tag, std::vector<sstring> keyspace_names) {
+    std::vector<std::reference_wrapper<keyspace>> keyspaces;
+    for (auto& ksname: keyspace_names) {
+        try {
+            keyspaces.push_back(std::reference_wrapper<keyspace>(_db.local().find_keyspace(ksname)));
+        } catch (no_such_keyspace& e) {
+            return make_exception_future(std::current_exception());
+        }
+    }
+
+    auto deleted_keyspaces = make_lw_shared<std::vector<sstring>>();
+    return parallel_for_each(keyspaces, [this, tag, deleted_keyspaces] (auto& ks) {
+        return parallel_for_each(ks.get().metadata()->cf_meta_data(), [this, tag] (auto& pair) {
+            auto& cf = _db.local().find_column_family(pair.second);
+            return cf.clear_snapshot(tag);
+         });
+    });
+    logger.debug("Cleared out snapshot directories");
+}
+
+
 future<> storage_service::start_rpc_server() {
     fail(unimplemented::cause::STORAGE_SERVICE);
 #if 0
diff --git a/service/storage_service.hh b/service/storage_service.hh
index f02343b282..fe45104836 100644
--- a/service/storage_service.hh
+++ b/service/storage_service.hh
@@ -1125,34 +1125,14 @@ public:
         }
         return Keyspace.open(keyspaceName);
     }
+#endif
 
     /**
      * Remove the snapshot with the given name from the given keyspaces.
      * If no tag is specified we will remove all snapshots.
      */
-    public void clearSnapshot(String tag, String... keyspaceNames) throws IOException
-    {
-        if(tag == null)
-            tag = "";
-
-        Set<String> keyspaces = new HashSet<>();
-        for (String dataDir : DatabaseDescriptor.getAllDataFileLocations())
-        {
-            for(String keyspaceDir : new File(dataDir).list())
-            {
-                // Only add a ks if it has been specified as a param, assuming params were actually provided.
-                if (keyspaceNames.length > 0 && !Arrays.asList(keyspaceNames).contains(keyspaceDir))
-                    continue;
-                keyspaces.add(keyspaceDir);
-            }
-        }
-
-        for (String keyspace : keyspaces)
-            Keyspace.clearSnapshot(tag, keyspace);
-
-        if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
-            logger.debug("Cleared out snapshot directories");
-    }
+    future<> clear_snapshot(sstring tag, std::vector<sstring> keyspace_names);
+#if 0
 
     public Map<String, TabularData> getSnapshotDetails()
     {