diff --git a/src/core/ngx_open_file_cache.c b/src/core/ngx_open_file_cache.c
index 7dd968f..e099f67 100644
--- a/src/core/ngx_open_file_cache.c
+++ b/src/core/ngx_open_file_cache.c
@@ -565,7 +565,6 @@
     u_char           *p, *cp, *end;
     ngx_fd_t          at_fd;
     ngx_str_t         at_name;
-    ngx_file_info_t   fi;
 
     if (of->disable_symlinks == NGX_DISABLE_SYMLINKS_OFF) {
         fd = ngx_open_file(name->data, mode, create, access);
@@ -586,7 +585,7 @@
 
     if (*p == '/') {
         at_fd = ngx_open_file("/",
-                              NGX_FILE_RDONLY|NGX_FILE_NONBLOCK,
+                              NGX_FILE_SEARCH|NGX_FILE_NONBLOCK,
                               NGX_FILE_OPEN, 0);
 
         if (at_fd == NGX_INVALID_FILE) {
@@ -617,12 +616,12 @@
 
         if (of->disable_symlinks == NGX_DISABLE_SYMLINKS_NOTOWNER) {
             fd = ngx_openat_file_owner(at_fd, p,
-                                       NGX_FILE_RDONLY|NGX_FILE_NONBLOCK,
+                                       NGX_FILE_SEARCH|NGX_FILE_NONBLOCK,
                                        NGX_FILE_OPEN, 0, log);
 
         } else {
             fd = ngx_openat_file(at_fd, p,
-                           NGX_FILE_RDONLY|NGX_FILE_NONBLOCK|NGX_FILE_NOFOLLOW,
+                           NGX_FILE_SEARCH|NGX_FILE_NONBLOCK|NGX_FILE_NOFOLLOW,
                            NGX_FILE_OPEN, 0);
         }
 
@@ -647,35 +646,18 @@
     if (p == end) {
 
         /*
-         * If pathname ends with a trailing slash, check if last path
-         * component is a directory; if not, fail with ENOTDIR as per
-         * POSIX.
+         * If pathname ends with a trailing slash, assume the last path
+         * component is a directory and reopen it with requested flags;
+         * if not, fail with ENOTDIR as per POSIX.
          *
-         * We use separate check instead of O_DIRECTORY in the loop above,
-         * as O_DIRECTORY doesn't work on FreeBSD 8.
-         *
-         * Note this returns already opened file descriptor, with different
-         * mode/create/access.  This is believed to be safe as we don't
-         * use this codepath to create directories.
+         * We cannot rely on O_DIRECTORY in the loop above to check
+         * that the last path component is a directory because
+         * O_DIRECTORY doesn't work on FreeBSD 8.  Fortunately, by
+         * reopening a directory, we don't depend on it at all.
          */
 
-        if (ngx_fd_info(at_fd, &fi) == NGX_FILE_ERROR) {
-            of->err = ngx_errno;
-            of->failed = ngx_fd_info_n;
-            fd = NGX_INVALID_FILE;
-
-            goto failed;
-        }
-
-        if (ngx_is_dir(&fi)) {
-            return at_fd;
-        }
-
-        of->err = ENOTDIR;
-        of->failed = ngx_openat_file_n;
-        fd = NGX_INVALID_FILE;
-
-        goto failed;
+        fd = ngx_openat_file(at_fd, ".", mode, create, access);
+        goto done;
     }
 
     if (of->disable_symlinks == NGX_DISABLE_SYMLINKS_NOTOWNER
@@ -687,6 +669,8 @@
         fd = ngx_openat_file(at_fd, p, mode|NGX_FILE_NOFOLLOW, create, access);
     }
 
+done:
+
     if (fd == NGX_INVALID_FILE) {
         of->err = ngx_errno;
         of->failed = ngx_openat_file_n;
diff --git a/src/os/unix/ngx_files.h b/src/os/unix/ngx_files.h
index d397c2f..1a35cba 100644
--- a/src/os/unix/ngx_files.h
+++ b/src/os/unix/ngx_files.h
@@ -78,8 +78,25 @@
 
 #if (NGX_HAVE_OPENAT)
 #define NGX_FILE_NOFOLLOW        O_NOFOLLOW
+
+#if defined(O_DIRECTORY)
+#define NGX_FILE_DIRECTORY       O_DIRECTORY
+#else
+#define NGX_FILE_DIRECTORY       0
 #endif
 
+#if defined(O_SEARCH)
+#define NGX_FILE_SEARCH          O_SEARCH|NGX_FILE_DIRECTORY
+
+#elif defined(O_EXEC)
+#define NGX_FILE_SEARCH          O_EXEC|NGX_FILE_DIRECTORY
+
+#else
+#define NGX_FILE_SEARCH          O_RDONLY|NGX_FILE_DIRECTORY
+#endif
+
+#endif /* NGX_HAVE_OPENAT */
+
 #define NGX_FILE_DEFAULT_ACCESS  0644
 #define NGX_FILE_OWNER_ACCESS    0600