diff --git a/src/afs/VNOPS/afs_vnop_access.c b/src/afs/VNOPS/afs_vnop_access.c
index a5cd799145..7e2cd7325b 100644
--- a/src/afs/VNOPS/afs_vnop_access.c
+++ b/src/afs/VNOPS/afs_vnop_access.c
@@ -224,11 +224,13 @@ afs_access(OSI_VC_DECL(avc), register afs_int32 amode,
 	return code;
     }
 
-    code = afs_VerifyVCache(avc, &treq);
-    if (code) {
-	afs_PutFakeStat(&fakestate);
-	code = afs_CheckCode(code, &treq, 16);
-	return code;
+    if (vType(avc) != VDIR || !afs_InReadDir(avc)) {
+	code = afs_VerifyVCache(avc, &treq);
+	if (code) {
+	    afs_PutFakeStat(&fakestate);
+	    code = afs_CheckCode(code, &treq, 16);
+	    return code;
+	}
     }
 
     /* if we're looking for write access and we have a read-only file system, report it */