--- nmap-4.65/nmap.cc
+++ nmap-4.65/nmap.cc
@@ -2665,10 +2665,13 @@ int fileexistsandisreadable(const char *pathname) {
 
   struct stat st;
 
-  if (stat(pathname_buf, &st) == -1)
-    status = 0;
-  else if (access(pathname_buf, R_OK) != -1)
-    status = S_ISDIR(st.st_mode) ? 2 : 1;
+  if (access(pathname_buf, R_OK) == 0 && stat(pathname_buf, &st) == 0) {
+      if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode)) {
+	status = 1;
+      } else if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) {
+	status = 2;
+      }
+  }
 
   free(pathname_buf);
   return status;