MySQL: ERROR 1010 (HY000): Error dropping database (can't rmdir './foodb', errno: 39)

The problem

mysql> drop database foodb;
ERROR 1010 (HY000): Error dropping database (can't rmdir './foodb', errno: 39)

The solution

# cd /var/lib/mysql 
var/lib/mysql# ls
foodb
/var/lib/mysql# rm -fr foodb
mysql> drop database foodb;
ERROR 1008 (HY000): Can't drop database 'foodb'; database doesn't exist
mysql> create database foodb;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> drop database foodb;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (3.38 sec)