diff --git a/Quake/common.c b/Quake/common.c
index a3461d57..702eb2c9 100644
--- a/Quake/common.c
+++ b/Quake/common.c
@@ -1604,7 +1604,7 @@ static int COM_FindFile (const char *filename, int *handle, FILE **file,
 	searchpath_t	*search;
 	char		netpath[MAX_OSPATH];
 	pack_t		*pak;
-	int		i, findtime;
+	int		i;
 
 	if (file && handle)
 		Sys_Error ("COM_FindFile: both handle and file set");
@@ -1656,8 +1656,7 @@ static int COM_FindFile (const char *filename, int *handle, FILE **file,
 			}
 
 			q_snprintf (netpath, sizeof(netpath), "%s/%s",search->filename, filename);
-			findtime = Sys_FileTime (netpath);
-			if (findtime == -1)
+			if (! (Sys_FileType(netpath) & FS_ENT_FILE))
 				continue;
 
 			if (path_id)
diff --git a/Quake/common.h b/Quake/common.h
index bb414045..9e9ca809 100644
--- a/Quake/common.h
+++ b/Quake/common.h
@@ -345,6 +345,11 @@ const char *COM_ParseFloatNewline(const char *buffer, float *value);
 // newline. Returns advanced buffer position.
 const char *COM_ParseStringNewline(const char *buffer);
 
+
+#define	FS_ENT_NONE		(0)
+#define	FS_ENT_FILE		(1 << 0)
+#define	FS_ENT_DIRECTORY	(1 << 1)
+
 /* The following FS_*() stdio replacements are necessary if one is
  * to perform non-sequential reads on files reopened on pak files
  * because we need the bookkeeping about file start/end positions.
diff --git a/Quake/gl_screen.c b/Quake/gl_screen.c
index 962c0ebb..614d1074 100644
--- a/Quake/gl_screen.c
+++ b/Quake/gl_screen.c
@@ -794,7 +794,7 @@ void SCR_ScreenShot_f (void)
 	{
 		q_snprintf (imagename, sizeof(imagename), "spasm%04i.%s", i, ext);	// "fitz%04i.tga"
 		q_snprintf (checkname, sizeof(checkname), "%s/%s", com_gamedir, imagename);
-		if (Sys_FileTime(checkname) == -1)
+		if (Sys_FileType(checkname) == FS_ENT_NONE)
 			break;	// file doesn't exist
 	}
 	if (i == 10000)
diff --git a/Quake/sys.h b/Quake/sys.h
index dd023638..05d1055c 100644
--- a/Quake/sys.h
+++ b/Quake/sys.h
@@ -39,9 +39,12 @@ void Sys_FileClose (int handle);
 void Sys_FileSeek (int handle, int position);
 int Sys_FileRead (int handle, void *dest, int count);
 int Sys_FileWrite (int handle,const void *data, int count);
-int Sys_FileTime (const char *path);
 void Sys_mkdir (const char *path);
 
+int Sys_FileType (const char *path);
+/* returns an FS entity type, i.e. FS_ENT_FILE or FS_ENT_DIRECTORY.
+ * returns FS_ENT_NONE (0) if no such file or directory is present. */
+
 //
 // system IO
 //
diff --git a/Quake/sys_sdl_unix.c b/Quake/sys_sdl_unix.c
index d2036778..8820dc58 100644
--- a/Quake/sys_sdl_unix.c
+++ b/Quake/sys_sdl_unix.c
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/time.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
-#include <time.h>
 #ifdef DO_USERDIRS
 #include <pwd.h>
 #endif
@@ -140,19 +139,22 @@ int Sys_FileWrite (int handle, const void *data, int count)
 	return fwrite (data, 1, count, sys_handles[handle]);
 }
 
-int Sys_FileTime (const char *path)
+int Sys_FileType (const char *path)
 {
-	FILE	*f;
+	/*
+	if (access(path, R_OK) == -1)
+		return 0;
+	*/
+	struct stat	st;
 
-	f = fopen(path, "rb");
+	if (stat(path, &st) != 0)
+		return FS_ENT_NONE;
+	if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))
+		return FS_ENT_DIRECTORY;
+	if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode))
+		return FS_ENT_FILE;
 
-	if (f)
-	{
-		fclose(f);
-		return 1;
-	}
-
-	return -1;
+	return FS_ENT_NONE;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/Quake/sys_sdl_win.c b/Quake/sys_sdl_win.c
index 039c0e38..2f6f7367 100644
--- a/Quake/sys_sdl_win.c
+++ b/Quake/sys_sdl_win.c
@@ -139,19 +139,19 @@ int Sys_FileWrite (int handle, const void *data, int count)
 	return fwrite (data, 1, count, sys_handles[handle]);
 }
 
-int Sys_FileTime (const char *path)
+#ifndef INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES
+#define INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES	((DWORD)-1)
+#endif
+int Sys_FileType (const char *path)
 {
-	FILE	*f;
+	DWORD result = GetFileAttributes(path);
 
-	f = fopen(path, "rb");
+	if (result == INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES)
+		return FS_ENT_NONE;
+	if (result & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY)
+		return FS_ENT_DIRECTORY;
 
-	if (f)
-	{
-		fclose(f);
-		return 1;
-	}
-
-	return -1;
+	return FS_ENT_FILE;
 }
 
 static char	cwd[1024];