diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/fs/DeleteTrashFolders.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/fs/DeleteTrashFolders.java
index 14214c4..d80a677 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/fs/DeleteTrashFolders.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/fs/DeleteTrashFolders.java
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
   }
 
   private Set<Path> repoFolders;
+  private Thread thread;
 
   @Inject
   public DeleteTrashFolders(
@@ -113,7 +114,8 @@
 
   @Override
   public void start() {
-    new Thread(
+    thread =
+        new Thread(
             () -> {
               for (Path folder : repoFolders) {
                 if (!folder.toFile().exists()) {
@@ -127,8 +129,13 @@
                 }
               }
             },
-            "DeleteTrashFolders")
-        .start();
+            "DeleteTrashFolders");
+    thread.start();
+  }
+
+  @VisibleForTesting
+  Thread getWorkerThread() {
+    return thread;
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/fs/DeleteTrashFoldersTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/fs/DeleteTrashFoldersTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..acb7a03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/fs/DeleteTrashFoldersTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2018 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.deleteproject.fs;
+
+import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.config.RepositoryConfig;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.config.SitePaths;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.storage.file.FileRepository;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Config;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.rules.TemporaryFolder;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.junit.MockitoJUnitRunner;
+
+@RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)
+public class DeleteTrashFoldersTest {
+
+  @Mock private RepositoryConfig repositoryCfg;
+
+  @Rule public TemporaryFolder tempFolder = new TemporaryFolder();
+
+  private Path basePath;
+  private DeleteTrashFolders trashFolders;
+
+  @Before
+  public void setUp() throws Exception {
+    SitePaths sitePaths = new SitePaths(tempFolder.newFolder("gerrit_site").toPath());
+    basePath = sitePaths.resolve("base");
+    Config cfg = new Config();
+    cfg.setString("gerrit", null, "basePath", basePath.toString());
+    when(repositoryCfg.getAllBasePaths()).thenReturn(ImmutableList.of());
+    trashFolders = new DeleteTrashFolders(sitePaths, cfg, repositoryCfg);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testStart() throws Exception {
+    FileRepository repoToDelete = createRepository("repo.1234567890123.deleted");
+    FileRepository repoToKeep = createRepository("anotherRepo.git");
+    trashFolders.start();
+    trashFolders.getWorkerThread().join();
+    assertThat(repoToDelete.getDirectory().exists()).isFalse();
+    assertThat(repoToKeep.getDirectory().exists()).isTrue();
+  }
+
+  private FileRepository createRepository(String repoName) throws IOException {
+    Path repoPath = Files.createDirectories(basePath.resolve(repoName));
+    Repository repository = new FileRepository(repoPath.toFile());
+    repository.create(true);
+    return (FileRepository) repository;
+  }
+}