--- a/libsbutil/sb_exists.c	
+++ a/libsbutil/sb_exists.c	
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ int sb_exists(int dirfd, const char *pathname, int flags)
 {
 	struct stat64 buf;
 
-	if (faccessat(dirfd, pathname, F_OK, flags) == 0)
+	if (faccessat(dirfd, pathname, F_OK, flags|AT_EACCESS) == 0)
 		return 0;
 
 	/* musl's faccessat gives EINVAL when the kernel does not support