A method to prevent the inadvertent removal of volumes on a storage system is disclosed. In one embodiment, such a method includes receiving a request to remove (e.g., delete, detach, unmask, etc.) a volume on a storage system. In response to receiving the request, the method initiates at least one process to monitor the volume for I/O activity over a specified period of time. In the event the at least one process does not detect I/O activity to the volume during the specified period of time, the method executes the request by removing the volume. In the event the at least one process detects I/O activity to the volume during the specified period of time, the method denies the request to remove the volume. A corresponding system and computer program product are also disclosed.