diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 912ba9775..979a0e0d8 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # pkgdown (development version)
 
+* New `clean_site(force = TRUE)` for cleaning of `docs/` regardless of whether it was built by pkgdown (#2827).
 * Links to favicons in page headers were updated to reflect changes to https://realfavicongenerator.net/ (#2804). Favicons should be re-generated by manually removing the `pkgdown/favicon` directory and then running `pkgdown::build_favicons()`.
 * The language of the site is set from the first `Language:` in the `DESCRIPTION` if it is available and no other language is specified (@jonthegeek, #2808).
 
diff --git a/R/clean.R b/R/clean.R
index b8472fb34..6ed83b5b8 100644
--- a/R/clean.R
+++ b/R/clean.R
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
 #' Delete all files in `docs/` (except for `CNAME`).
 #'
 #' @param quiet If `TRUE`, suppresses a message.
+#' @param force If `TRUE`, delete contents of `docs` even if it is not a pkgdown site.
 #' @inheritParams build_site
 #' @rdname clean
 #' @export
-clean_site <- function(pkg = ".", quiet = FALSE) {
+clean_site <- function(pkg = ".", quiet = FALSE, force = FALSE) {
 
   pkg <- as_pkgdown(pkg)
 
@@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ clean_site <- function(pkg = ".", quiet = FALSE) {
   if (!dir_exists(pkg$dst_path)) return(invisible())
 
   top_level <- dest_files(pkg)
-  if (length(top_level) > 0) {
+  if (length(top_level) > 0 && !force) {
     check_dest_is_pkgdown(pkg)
   }
 
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ check_dest_is_pkgdown <- function(pkg) {
   cli::cli_abort(c(
     "{.file {pkg$dst_path}} is non-empty and not built by pkgdown",
     "!" = "Make sure it contains no important information \\
-            and use {.run pkgdown::clean_site()} to delete its contents."
+            and use {.run pkgdown::clean_site(force = TRUE)} to delete its contents."
     )
   )
 }
diff --git a/man/clean.Rd b/man/clean.Rd
index b6d8b0710..43572143a 100644
--- a/man/clean.Rd
+++ b/man/clean.Rd
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 \alias{clean_cache}
 \title{Clean site}
 \usage{
-clean_site(pkg = ".", quiet = FALSE)
+clean_site(pkg = ".", quiet = FALSE, force = FALSE)
 
 clean_cache(pkg = ".", quiet = FALSE)
 }
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ clean_cache(pkg = ".", quiet = FALSE)
 \item{pkg}{Path to package.}
 
 \item{quiet}{If \code{TRUE}, suppresses a message.}
+
+\item{force}{If \code{TRUE}, delete contents of \code{docs} even if it is not a pkgdown site.}
 }
 \description{
 Delete all files in \verb{docs/} (except for \code{CNAME}).