diff --git a/doc/oil.txt b/doc/oil.txt
index b2ccef7..6691db0 100644
--- a/doc/oil.txt
+++ b/doc/oil.txt
@@ -1001,8 +1001,9 @@ FTP                                                              *oil-adapter-ft
         nvim oil-ftp://[username[:password]@]hostname[:port]/[path]/
         nvim oil-ftps://[username[:password]@]hostname[:port]/[path]/
 <
-    The `oil-ftps://` scheme connects with `--ssl-reqd`, requiring a valid TLS
-    certificate. Use `oil-ftp://` for plain FTP.
+    The `oil-ftps://` scheme uses explicit TLS (STARTTLS / AUTH TLS, RFC 4217).
+    The server must support the `AUTH TLS` command on port 21. Servers using
+    implicit TLS (port 990) are not supported. Use `oil-ftp://` for plain FTP.
 
     Authentication ~
 
@@ -1022,7 +1023,9 @@ FTP                                                              *oil-adapter-ft
 
     Symbolic links cannot be created over FTP. Directory copies are not
     supported (copy individual files instead). Moving or copying directories
-    across different FTP hosts is not supported.
+    across different FTP hosts is not supported. Deleting non-empty directories
+    requires MLSD support (RFC 3659); supported by vsftpd, ProFTPD, FileZilla
+    Server, and most servers from 2007 onwards.
 
     Configuration ~
 
diff --git a/lua/oil/adapters/ftp.lua b/lua/oil/adapters/ftp.lua
index db7eea2..70d9e96 100644
--- a/lua/oil/adapters/ftp.lua
+++ b/lua/oil/adapters/ftp.lua
@@ -78,16 +78,17 @@ end
 ---@param s string
 ---@return string
 local function url_encode_path(s)
-  return (s:gsub('[^A-Za-z0-9%-._~:/]', function(c)
-    return string.format('%%%02X', c:byte())
-  end))
+  return (
+    s:gsub('[^A-Za-z0-9%-._~:/]', function(c)
+      return string.format('%%%02X', c:byte())
+    end)
+  )
 end
 
 ---@param url oil.ftpUrl
 ---@return string
 local function curl_ftp_url(url)
-  local scheme = url.scheme == 'oil-ftps://' and 'ftps://' or 'ftp://'
-  local pieces = { scheme }
+  local pieces = { 'ftp://' }
   if url.user then
     table.insert(pieces, url.user)
     if url.password then
@@ -112,8 +113,14 @@ local function ftpcmd(url, py_lines, cb)
   local lines = {}
   local use_tls = url.scheme == 'oil-ftps://'
   if use_tls then
+    local insecure = vim.tbl_contains(config.extra_curl_args, '--insecure')
+      or vim.tbl_contains(config.extra_curl_args, '-k')
     table.insert(lines, 'import ftplib, ssl')
     table.insert(lines, 'ctx = ssl.create_default_context()')
+    if insecure then
+      table.insert(lines, 'ctx.check_hostname = False')
+      table.insert(lines, 'ctx.verify_mode = ssl.CERT_NONE')
+    end
     table.insert(lines, 'ftp = ftplib.FTP_TLS(context=ctx)')
   else
     table.insert(lines, 'import ftplib')
@@ -154,13 +161,18 @@ end
 
 ---@param url oil.ftpUrl
 ---@param extra_args string[]
----@param cb fun(err: nil|string, output: nil|string[])
-local function curl(url, extra_args, cb)
-  local cmd = { 'curl', '-s', '--netrc-optional' }
+---@param opts table|fun(err: nil|string, output: nil|string[])
+---@param cb? fun(err: nil|string, output: nil|string[])
+local function curl(url, extra_args, opts, cb)
+  if not cb then
+    cb = opts
+    opts = {}
+  end
+  local cmd = { 'curl', '-sS', '--netrc-optional' }
   vim.list_extend(cmd, ssl_args(url))
   vim.list_extend(cmd, config.extra_curl_args)
   vim.list_extend(cmd, extra_args)
-  shell.run(cmd, cb)
+  shell.run(cmd, opts, cb)
 end
 
 ---@param url oil.ftpUrl
@@ -498,7 +510,7 @@ M.perform_action = function(action, cb)
     elseif action.entry_type == 'link' then
       cb('FTP does not support symbolic links')
     else
-      curl(res, { '-T', '/dev/null', curl_ftp_url(res) }, cb)
+      curl(res, { '-T', '-', curl_ftp_url(res) }, { stdin = 'null' }, cb)
     end
   elseif action.type == 'delete' then
     local res = M.parse_url(action.url)
@@ -506,7 +518,12 @@ M.perform_action = function(action, cb)
     if action.entry_type == 'directory' then
       ftpcmd(res, {
         'def rmtree(f, p):',
-        '  for name, facts in f.mlsd(p):',
+        '  try:',
+        '    entries = list(f.mlsd(p))',
+        '  except ftplib.error_perm as e:',
+        '    if "500" in str(e) or "502" in str(e): import sys; sys.exit("Server does not support MLSD; cannot recursively delete non-empty directories")',
+        '    raise',
+        '  for name, facts in entries:',
         '    if name in (".", ".."): continue',
         '    child = p.rstrip("/") + "/" + name',
         '    if facts["type"] == "dir": rmtree(f, child)',
@@ -654,4 +671,9 @@ M.write_file = function(bufnr)
   end)
 end
 
+M._parse_unix_list_line = parse_unix_list_line
+M._parse_iis_list_line = parse_iis_list_line
+M._url_encode_path = url_encode_path
+M._curl_ftp_url = curl_ftp_url
+
 return M
diff --git a/spec/ftp_spec.lua b/spec/ftp_spec.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ece92cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/ftp_spec.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+local ftp = require('oil.adapters.ftp')
+
+describe('ftp adapter', function()
+  describe('parse_url', function()
+    it('parses minimal url', function()
+      local res = ftp.parse_url('oil-ftp://host/')
+      assert.equals('oil-ftp://', res.scheme)
+      assert.equals('host', res.host)
+      assert.equals('', res.path)
+      assert.equals(nil, res.user)
+      assert.equals(nil, res.password)
+      assert.equals(nil, res.port)
+    end)
+
+    it('parses url with user, password, port, and path', function()
+      local res = ftp.parse_url('oil-ftp://user:pass@host:2121/some/path/')
+      assert.equals('oil-ftp://', res.scheme)
+      assert.equals('host', res.host)
+      assert.equals('user', res.user)
+      assert.equals('pass', res.password)
+      assert.equals(2121, res.port)
+      assert.equals('some/path/', res.path)
+    end)
+
+    it('parses url with user only', function()
+      local res = ftp.parse_url('oil-ftp://user@host/path/')
+      assert.equals('user', res.user)
+      assert.equals(nil, res.password)
+      assert.equals(nil, res.port)
+      assert.equals('path/', res.path)
+    end)
+
+    it('parses oil-ftps:// scheme', function()
+      local res = ftp.parse_url('oil-ftps://host/path/')
+      assert.equals('oil-ftps://', res.scheme)
+      assert.equals('host', res.host)
+    end)
+
+    it('parses port without credentials', function()
+      local res = ftp.parse_url('oil-ftp://host:990/')
+      assert.equals('host', res.host)
+      assert.equals(990, res.port)
+      assert.equals(nil, res.user)
+    end)
+  end)
+
+  describe('get_parent', function()
+    it('goes up one directory', function()
+      assert.equals('oil-ftp://host/', ftp.get_parent('oil-ftp://host/subdir/'))
+    end)
+
+    it('goes up nested directories', function()
+      assert.equals(
+        'oil-ftp://user:pass@host:2121/a/b/',
+        ftp.get_parent('oil-ftp://user:pass@host:2121/a/b/c/')
+      )
+    end)
+
+    it('stays at root', function()
+      assert.equals('oil-ftp://host/', ftp.get_parent('oil-ftp://host/'))
+    end)
+  end)
+
+  describe('unix list line parsing', function()
+    it('parses a regular file', function()
+      local name, entry_type, meta =
+        ftp._parse_unix_list_line('-rw-r--r--  1 user group   42 Jan 15  2024 hello.txt')
+      assert.equals('hello.txt', name)
+      assert.equals('file', entry_type)
+      assert.equals(42, meta.size)
+      assert.equals('number', type(meta.mtime))
+      assert.equals(420, meta.mode)
+    end)
+
+    it('parses a directory', function()
+      local name, entry_type, meta =
+        ftp._parse_unix_list_line('drwxr-xr-x  2 user group 4096 Mar 18 10:30 subdir')
+      assert.equals('subdir', name)
+      assert.equals('directory', entry_type)
+      assert.equals(4096, meta.size)
+      assert.equals('number', type(meta.mtime))
+    end)
+
+    it('parses a symlink', function()
+      local name, entry_type, meta =
+        ftp._parse_unix_list_line('lrwxrwxrwx  1 user group    8 Mar 18 10:30 link -> target')
+      assert.equals('link', name)
+      assert.equals('link', entry_type)
+      assert.equals('target', meta.link)
+    end)
+
+    it('parses a filename with spaces', function()
+      local name, entry_type, _ =
+        ftp._parse_unix_list_line('-rw-r--r--  1 user group  100 Mar 15 09:00 my file.txt')
+      assert.equals('my file.txt', name)
+      assert.equals('file', entry_type)
+    end)
+
+    it('returns nil for unrecognised lines', function()
+      local name = ftp._parse_unix_list_line('total 42')
+      assert.equals(nil, name)
+    end)
+  end)
+
+  describe('iis list line parsing', function()
+    it('parses a directory', function()
+      local name, entry_type, _ =
+        ftp._parse_iis_list_line('01-14-24  09:27AM       <DIR>          dirname')
+      assert.equals('dirname', name)
+      assert.equals('directory', entry_type)
+    end)
+
+    it('parses a file', function()
+      local name, entry_type, meta =
+        ftp._parse_iis_list_line('01-14-24  09:27AM              12345 file.txt')
+      assert.equals('file.txt', name)
+      assert.equals('file', entry_type)
+      assert.equals(12345, meta.size)
+    end)
+
+    it('returns nil for unrecognised lines', function()
+      local name = ftp._parse_iis_list_line('drwxr-xr-x  2 user group 4096 Mar 18 10:30 subdir')
+      assert.equals(nil, name)
+    end)
+  end)
+
+  describe('curl_ftp_url', function()
+    it('always uses ftp:// scheme for oil-ftp://', function()
+      local url = ftp.parse_url('oil-ftp://host/path/')
+      assert(vim.startswith(ftp._curl_ftp_url(url), 'ftp://'))
+    end)
+
+    it('always uses ftp:// scheme for oil-ftps://', function()
+      local url = ftp.parse_url('oil-ftps://host/path/')
+      assert(vim.startswith(ftp._curl_ftp_url(url), 'ftp://'))
+    end)
+
+    it('encodes spaces in path', function()
+      local url = ftp.parse_url('oil-ftp://host/my path/')
+      assert.equals('ftp://host/my%20path/', ftp._curl_ftp_url(url))
+    end)
+
+    it('includes credentials and port', function()
+      local url = ftp.parse_url('oil-ftp://user:pass@host:2121/dir/')
+      assert.equals('ftp://user:pass@host:2121/dir/', ftp._curl_ftp_url(url))
+    end)
+  end)
+
+  describe('url_encode_path', function()
+    it('leaves safe characters unchanged', function()
+      assert.equals('hello.txt', ftp._url_encode_path('hello.txt'))
+    end)
+
+    it('encodes spaces', function()
+      assert.equals('a%20file.txt', ftp._url_encode_path('a file.txt'))
+    end)
+
+    it('preserves path separators', function()
+      assert.equals('dir/subdir/file.txt', ftp._url_encode_path('dir/subdir/file.txt'))
+    end)
+
+    it('encodes special characters', function()
+      assert.equals('hello%23world', ftp._url_encode_path('hello#world'))
+    end)
+  end)
+end)