diff --git a/lib/libalpm/be_files.c b/lib/libalpm/be_files.c
index 90e97a5..7d80ea7 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/be_files.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/be_files.c
@@ -222,8 +222,6 @@ int _alpm_db_populate(pmdb_t *db)
 {
 	int count = 0;
 	struct dirent *ent = NULL;
-	struct stat sbuf;
-	char path[PATH_MAX];
 	const char *dbpath;
 	DIR *dbdir;
 
@@ -243,12 +241,6 @@ int _alpm_db_populate(pmdb_t *db)
 		if(strcmp(name, ".") == 0 || strcmp(name, "..") == 0) {
 			continue;
 		}
-		/* stat the entry, make sure it's a directory */
-		snprintf(path, PATH_MAX, "%s%s", dbpath, name);
-		if(stat(path, &sbuf) != 0 || !S_ISDIR(sbuf.st_mode)) {
-			continue;
-		}
-
 		pkg = _alpm_pkg_new();
 		if(pkg == NULL) {
 			closedir(dbdir);
@@ -337,13 +329,6 @@ int _alpm_db_read(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq)
 
 	pkgpath = get_pkgpath(db, info);
 
-	if(access(pkgpath, F_OK)) {
-		/* directory doesn't exist or can't be opened */
-		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "cannot find '%s-%s' in db '%s'\n",
-				info->name, info->version, db->treename);
-		goto error;
-	}
-
 	/* DESC */
 	if(inforeq & INFRQ_DESC) {
 		snprintf(path, PATH_MAX, "%sdesc", pkgpath);