diff --git a/internal/fs/const_unix.go b/internal/fs/const_unix.go
index fe84cda17..e570c2553 100644
--- a/internal/fs/const_unix.go
+++ b/internal/fs/const_unix.go
@@ -7,3 +7,6 @@ import "syscall"
 
 // O_NOFOLLOW instructs the kernel to not follow symlinks when opening a file.
 const O_NOFOLLOW int = syscall.O_NOFOLLOW
+
+// O_DIRECTORY instructs the kernel to only open directories.
+const O_DIRECTORY int = syscall.O_DIRECTORY
diff --git a/internal/fs/const_windows.go b/internal/fs/const_windows.go
index f1b263a54..4c29e0b9d 100644
--- a/internal/fs/const_windows.go
+++ b/internal/fs/const_windows.go
@@ -3,5 +3,10 @@
 
 package fs
 
+// TODO honor flags when opening files
+
 // O_NOFOLLOW is a noop on Windows.
 const O_NOFOLLOW int = 0
+
+// O_DIRECTORY is a noop on Windows.
+const O_DIRECTORY int = 0
diff --git a/internal/fs/file.go b/internal/fs/file.go
index 8d60ed159..c60625a07 100644
--- a/internal/fs/file.go
+++ b/internal/fs/file.go
@@ -64,9 +64,10 @@ func ResetPermissions(path string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// Readdirnames returns a list of file in a directory. Flags are passed to fs.OpenFile. O_RDONLY is implied.
+// Readdirnames returns a list of file in a directory. Flags are passed to fs.OpenFile.
+// O_RDONLY and O_DIRECTORY are implied.
 func Readdirnames(filesystem FS, dir string, flags int) ([]string, error) {
-	f, err := filesystem.OpenFile(dir, O_RDONLY|flags, 0)
+	f, err := filesystem.OpenFile(dir, O_RDONLY|O_DIRECTORY|flags, 0)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("openfile for readdirnames failed: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/fs/file_unix_test.go b/internal/fs/file_unix_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..00d68abb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/fs/file_unix_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+//go:build unix
+
+package fs
+
+import (
+	"path/filepath"
+	"syscall"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/errors"
+	rtest "github.com/restic/restic/internal/test"
+)
+
+func TestReaddirnamesFifo(t *testing.T) {
+	// should not block when reading from a fifo instead of a directory
+	tempdir := t.TempDir()
+	fifoFn := filepath.Join(tempdir, "fifo")
+	rtest.OK(t, mkfifo(fifoFn, 0o600))
+
+	_, err := Readdirnames(&Local{}, fifoFn, 0)
+	rtest.Assert(t, errors.Is(err, syscall.ENOTDIR), "unexpected error %v", err)
+}