diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Editors/ContentController.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Editors/ContentController.cs
index 6caf490e38..c77fe04b0d 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Editors/ContentController.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Editors/ContentController.cs
@@ -847,7 +847,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Editors
         /// </remarks>
         [HttpDelete]
         [HttpPost]
-        [EnsureUserPermissionForContent(Constants.System.RecycleBinContent)]
+        [EnsureUserPermissionForContent(Constants.System.RecycleBinContent, 'D')]
         public HttpResponseMessage EmptyRecycleBin()
         {
             Services.ContentService.EmptyRecycleBin();
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/ContentTreeControllerBase.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/ContentTreeControllerBase.cs
index 9326872111..1a0a135bac 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/ContentTreeControllerBase.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/ContentTreeControllerBase.cs
@@ -346,8 +346,15 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Trees
         {
             if (RecycleBinId.ToInvariantString() == id)
             {
+                // get the default assigned permissions for this user
+                var actions = ActionsResolver.Current.FromActionSymbols(Security.CurrentUser.GetPermissions(Constants.System.RecycleBinContentString, Services.UserService)).ToList();
+
                 var menu = new MenuItemCollection();
-                menu.Items.Add<ActionEmptyTranscan>(ui.Text("actions", "emptyTrashcan"));
+                // only add empty recycle bin if the current user is allowed to delete by default 
+                if (actions.Contains(ActionDelete.Instance))
+                {
+                    menu.Items.Add<ActionEmptyTranscan>(ui.Text("actions", "emptyTrashcan"));
+                }
                 menu.Items.Add<ActionRefresh>(ui.Text("actions", ActionRefresh.Instance.Alias), true);
                 return menu;
             }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/WebApi/Filters/EnsureUserPermissionForContentAttribute.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/WebApi/Filters/EnsureUserPermissionForContentAttribute.cs
index 1a5fc4d07c..18880b9f96 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/WebApi/Filters/EnsureUserPermissionForContentAttribute.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/WebApi/Filters/EnsureUserPermissionForContentAttribute.cs
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.WebApi.Filters
             _nodeId = nodeId;
         }
 
+        public EnsureUserPermissionForContentAttribute(int nodeId, char permissionToCheck)
+            : this(nodeId)
+        {
+            _permissionToCheck = permissionToCheck;
+        }
+
         public EnsureUserPermissionForContentAttribute(string paramName)
         {
             if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(paramName)) throw new ArgumentException("Value cannot be null or whitespace.", "paramName");