diff --git a/news/4867.bugfix.rst b/news/4867.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4d949632
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/4867.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix a bug of deleting a virtualenv that is not managed by Pipenv.
diff --git a/pipenv/cli/command.py b/pipenv/cli/command.py
index 24d8c0e6..a3910b22 100644
--- a/pipenv/cli/command.py
+++ b/pipenv/cli/command.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import os
 import sys
 
+from pipenv import environments
 from pipenv.__version__ import __version__
 from pipenv._compat import fix_utf8
 from pipenv.cli.options import (
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@ def cli(
         # --rm was passed...
         elif rm:
             # Abort if --system (or running in a virtualenv).
-            if state.project.s.PIPENV_USE_SYSTEM:
+            if state.project.s.PIPENV_USE_SYSTEM or environments.is_in_virtualenv():
                 echo(
                     crayons.red(
                         "You are attempting to remove a virtualenv that "