diff --git a/fs/operations/dedupe.go b/fs/operations/dedupe.go
index 7dfc9afc4..2851c219e 100644
--- a/fs/operations/dedupe.go
+++ b/fs/operations/dedupe.go
@@ -211,12 +211,18 @@ func dedupeFindDuplicateDirs(ctx context.Context, f fs.Fs) ([][]fs.Directory, er
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "find duplicate dirs")
 	}
-	duplicateDirs := [][]fs.Directory{}
-	for _, ds := range dirs {
+	// make sure parents are before children
+	duplicateNames := []string{}
+	for name, ds := range dirs {
 		if len(ds) > 1 {
-			duplicateDirs = append(duplicateDirs, ds)
+			duplicateNames = append(duplicateNames, name)
 		}
 	}
+	sort.Strings(duplicateNames)
+	duplicateDirs := [][]fs.Directory{}
+	for _, name := range duplicateNames {
+		duplicateDirs = append(duplicateDirs, dirs[name])
+	}
 	return duplicateDirs, nil
 }
 
@@ -235,7 +241,8 @@ func dedupeMergeDuplicateDirs(ctx context.Context, f fs.Fs, duplicateDirs [][]fs
 			fs.Infof(dirs[0], "Merging contents of duplicate directories")
 			err := mergeDirs(ctx, dirs)
 			if err != nil {
-				return errors.Wrap(err, "merge duplicate dirs")
+				err = fs.CountError(err)
+				fs.Errorf(nil, "merge duplicate dirs: %v", err)
 			}
 		} else {
 			fs.Infof(dirs[0], "NOT Merging contents of duplicate directories as --dry-run")
@@ -251,23 +258,16 @@ func dedupeMergeDuplicateDirs(ctx context.Context, f fs.Fs, duplicateDirs [][]fs
 func Deduplicate(ctx context.Context, f fs.Fs, mode DeduplicateMode) error {
 	fs.Infof(f, "Looking for duplicates using %v mode.", mode)
 
-	// Find duplicate directories first and fix them - repeat
-	// until all fixed
-	for {
-		duplicateDirs, err := dedupeFindDuplicateDirs(ctx, f)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if len(duplicateDirs) == 0 {
-			break
-		}
+	// Find duplicate directories first and fix them
+	duplicateDirs, err := dedupeFindDuplicateDirs(ctx, f)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if len(duplicateDirs) != 0 {
 		err = dedupeMergeDuplicateDirs(ctx, f, duplicateDirs)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		if fs.Config.DryRun {
-			break
-		}
 	}
 
 	// find a hash to use
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ func Deduplicate(ctx context.Context, f fs.Fs, mode DeduplicateMode) error {
 
 	// Now find duplicate files
 	files := map[string][]fs.Object{}
-	err := walk.ListR(ctx, f, "", true, fs.Config.MaxDepth, walk.ListObjects, func(entries fs.DirEntries) error {
+	err = walk.ListR(ctx, f, "", true, fs.Config.MaxDepth, walk.ListObjects, func(entries fs.DirEntries) error {
 		entries.ForObject(func(o fs.Object) {
 			remote := o.Remote()
 			files[remote] = append(files[remote], o)