diff --git a/src/fileops.c b/src/fileops.c
index 92b95c5dd..b11119b91 100644
--- a/src/fileops.c
+++ b/src/fileops.c
@@ -170,6 +170,12 @@ int gitfo_isfile(const char *path)
 }
 
 int gitfo_exists(const char *path)
+{
+	assert(path);
+	return access(path, F_OK);
+}
+
+int gitfo_shallow_exists(const char *path)
 {
 	assert(path);
 
diff --git a/src/index.c b/src/index.c
index 3d2e72e56..798d9e918 100644
--- a/src/index.c
+++ b/src/index.c
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ static int index_init_entry(git_index_entry *entry, git_index *index, const char
 
 	git__joinpath(full_path, index->repository->path_workdir, rel_path);
 
-	if (gitfo_exists(full_path) < 0)
+	if (gitfo_shallow_exists(full_path) < 0)
 		return git__throw(GIT_ENOTFOUND, "Failed to initialize entry. %s does not exist", full_path);
 
 	if (gitfo_lstat(full_path, &st) < 0)