diff --git a/source/common/gamecontrol.cpp b/source/common/gamecontrol.cpp
index 6cdbe2d20..4df0ad34a 100644
--- a/source/common/gamecontrol.cpp
+++ b/source/common/gamecontrol.cpp
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.
 */
 //-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-#include <filesystem>
 #include "gamecontrol.h"
 #include "tarray.h"
 #include "zstring.h"
diff --git a/source/common/i_specialpaths.h b/source/common/i_specialpaths.h
index e8929a048..44596165a 100644
--- a/source/common/i_specialpaths.h
+++ b/source/common/i_specialpaths.h
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ FString M_GetSavegamesPath();
 FString M_GetDocumentsPath();
 FString M_GetDemoPath();
 
+FString M_GetNormalizedPath(const char* path);
 
 #ifdef __APPLE__
 FString M_GetMacAppSupportPath(const bool create = true);
diff --git a/source/common/searchpaths.cpp b/source/common/searchpaths.cpp
index bcfaf3463..066265668 100644
--- a/source/common/searchpaths.cpp
+++ b/source/common/searchpaths.cpp
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.
 #include <filesystem>
 #include "m_crc32.h"
 #include "i_specialpaths.h"
+#include "i_system.h"
 #include "compat.h"
 #include "gameconfigfile.h"
 #include "cmdlib.h"
@@ -451,28 +452,26 @@ void G_AddExternalSearchPaths(TArray<FString> &searchpaths)
 
 void CollectSubdirectories(TArray<FString> &searchpath, const char *dirmatch)
 {
-	try
+	FString dirpath = MakeUTF8(dirmatch);	// convert into clean UTF-8
+	dirpath.Truncate(dirpath.Len() - 2);	// remove the '/*'
+	FString AbsPath = M_GetNormalizedPath(dirpath);
+	if (DirExists(AbsPath))
 	{
-		FString dirpath = MakeUTF8(dirmatch);	// convert into clean UTF-8
-		dirpath.Truncate(dirpath.Len() - 2);	// remove the '/*'
-		fs::path path = AbsolutePath(dirpath.GetChars());
-		if (fs::exists(path) && fs::is_directory(path))
+		findstate_t findstate;
+		void* handle;
+		if ((handle = I_FindFirst(AbsPath + "/*.*", &findstate)) != (void*)-1)
 		{
-			for (const auto& entry : fs::directory_iterator(path))
+			do
 			{
-				if (fs::is_directory(entry.status()))
+				if (!(I_FindAttr(&findstate) & FA_DIREC))
 				{
-					FString newdir = absolute(entry.path()).u8string().c_str();
-					if (searchpath.Find(newdir) == searchpath.Size())
-						searchpath.Push(newdir);
+					FStringf fullpath("%s/%s", AbsPath.GetChars(), I_FindName(&findstate));
+					searchpath.Push(fullpath);
 				}
-			}
+			} while (I_FindNext(handle, &findstate) == 0);
+			I_FindClose(handle);
 		}
 	}
-	catch (fs::filesystem_error &)
-	{
-		// Just ignore this path if it caused an error.
-	}
 }
 
 //==========================================================================
diff --git a/source/platform/macos/i_specialpaths.mm b/source/platform/macos/i_specialpaths.mm
index 59179f400..ea321b167 100644
--- a/source/platform/macos/i_specialpaths.mm
+++ b/source/platform/macos/i_specialpaths.mm
@@ -220,3 +220,23 @@ FString M_GetDocumentsPath()
 
 	return path;
 }
+
+
+//===========================================================================
+//
+// M_NormalizedPath
+//
+// Normalizes the given path and returns the result.
+//
+//===========================================================================
+
+FString M_GetNormalizedPath(const char* path)
+{
+	NSString *str = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:path];
+	NSString *out;
+	if ([str completePathIntoString:&out caseSensitive:NO matchesIntoArray:nil filterTypes:nil])
+	{
+		return out.UTF8String;
+	}
+	return path;
+}
diff --git a/source/platform/win32/i_specialpaths.cpp b/source/platform/win32/i_specialpaths.cpp
index a64cb03fc..1834bf868 100644
--- a/source/platform/win32/i_specialpaths.cpp
+++ b/source/platform/win32/i_specialpaths.cpp
@@ -382,3 +382,21 @@ FString M_GetDemoPath()
 	CreatePath(path);
 	return path;
 }
+
+//===========================================================================
+//
+// M_NormalizedPath
+//
+// Normalizes the given path and returns the result.
+//
+//===========================================================================
+
+FString M_GetNormalizedPath(const char* path)
+{
+	std::wstring wpath = WideString(path);
+	wchar_t buffer[MAX_PATH];
+	GetFullPathNameW(wpath.c_str(), MAX_PATH, buffer, nullptr);
+	FString result(buffer);
+	FixPathSeperator(result);
+	return result;
+}