diff --git a/clite/commands.js b/clite/commands.js
index baa99d2..c721896 100644
--- a/clite/commands.js
+++ b/clite/commands.js
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ Options:
 			stdio.write(io.stderr,'cannot open directory: '+dir);
 			return;
 		}
-		var st = stdio.fstat(fd);
+		var st = stdio.fstatat(fd,stdio.flags.AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW);
 		if (!st) {
 			stdio.write(io.stderr,'cannot read file: '+dir);
 			stdio.close(fd);
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ Options:
 				stdio.write(io.stderr,'cannot read contents: '+dir);
 				break;
 			}
-			var est = stdio.fstat(efd);
+			var est = stdio.fstatat(efd,stdio.flags.AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW);
 			if (!est) {
 				stdio.close(efd);
 				stdio.write(io.stderr,'cannot read content: '+dir);
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ Options:
 	}
 
 	function fcb(fd) {
-		var st = stdio.fstat(fd);
+		var st = stdio.fstatat(fd,stdio.flags.AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW);
 		// check if it's a directory or link
 		if (
 			!st
@@ -386,10 +386,10 @@ Options:
 			io.exit(1);
 			return;
 		}
-		var st = stdio.fstat(fd);
+		var st = stdio.fstatat(fd,0);
 		if ( !st || (st.type != stdio.types.FT_TEXT && st.type != stdio.types.FT_SCRIPT)) {
 			stdio.write(io.stderr,'can not read files of this type');
-				io.exit(1);
+			io.exit(1);
 			return;
 		}
 		var txt = stdio.readAll(fd);
@@ -544,7 +544,7 @@ Options:
 	}
 
 	function removeFile(path) {
-		var st = stdio.stat(path);
+		var st = stdio.lstat(path);
 		if (!st) {
 			if (force)
 				return 0;
@@ -642,7 +642,7 @@ Options:
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	var st = stdio.stat(file);
+	var st = stdio.lstat(file);
 	if (st) {
 		stdio.fprintf(io.stderr,'already exists: %s\n',short);
 		return 1;
@@ -965,7 +965,7 @@ Options:
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	var st = stdio.stat(file);
+	var st = stdio.lstat(file);
 	if (!st) {
 		stdio.fprintf(io.stderr,'cannot open file: %s\n',short);
 		return 1;
@@ -1022,7 +1022,7 @@ Options:
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	var st = stdio.stat(file);
+	var st = stdio.lstat(file);
 
 	var txt = short+': ';
 	if (!st) {
diff --git a/clite/core.js b/clite/core.js
index 211ad8f..1308b5e 100644
--- a/clite/core.js
+++ b/clite/core.js
@@ -1366,7 +1366,12 @@ clite.io = {
 			var uid = clite.proc.getUID(pid);
 			return vfsapi.mkLink(uid,path,target);
 		},
-		clite.io.fstat = function(pid,fd) {
+		clite.io.fstatat = function(pid,fd,flags) {
+			if (!fd || !fd.node || !fd.canread)
+				return null;
+
+			if (fd.node.islink && (flags&clite.io.flags.AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW) == 0)
+				fd = getFileDesPre(pid,n.node.data.content,true);
 			if (!fd || !fd.node || !fd.canread)
 				return null;
 
@@ -1384,10 +1389,6 @@ clite.io = {
 
 			return stat;
 		},
-		clite.io.stat = function(pid,path) {
-			var fd = getFileDes(pid,path,true,false);
-			return clite.io.fstat(pid,fd);
-		},
 		clite.io.fchmod = function(pid,fd,mode) {
 			var uid = clite.proc.getUID(pid);
 			if (fd.node.uid != uid)
@@ -1827,6 +1828,7 @@ clite.io = {
 		O_EXCL:		parseInt('0x000010',16),	// if O_CREAT is set, fail if file exists
 		O_NOCTTY:	parseInt('0x0',16),	// no op
 		O_NOFOLLOW:	parseInt('0x000020',16),	// if file is a symlink, don't follow it
+		AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW:	parseInt('0x000020',16),	// if file is a symlink, don't follow it
 		O_NONBLOCK:	parseInt('0x000040',16),	// no callbacks, return immediately
 		O_SYNC:		parseInt('0x000080',16),	// write immediately (may fail on remote data)
 		O_TRUNC:	parseInt('0x000100',16),	// set file size to 0 before writing, requires O_RDWR or O_WRONLY
diff --git a/clite/libstdio.js b/clite/libstdio.js
index 35e68a1..85e5cff 100644
--- a/clite/libstdio.js
+++ b/clite/libstdio.js
@@ -55,12 +55,26 @@ return Object.create({
 		return clite.io.link(io.pid,path,target);
 	},
 
-	stat:function(path) {
-		return clite.io.stat(io.pid,path);
+	fstatat:function(fd,flags) {
+		return clite.io.fstatat(io.pid,fd,flags);
 	},
 
-	fstat:function(fd) {
-		return clite.io.fstat(io.pid,fd);
+	stat:function(path) {
+		var fd = clite.io.open(io.pid,path,clite.io.flags.O_RDONLY);
+		if (!fd)
+			return null;
+		var st = clite.io.fstatat(io.pid,fd,0);
+		clite.io.close(io.pid,fd);
+		return st;
+	},
+
+	lstat:function(path) {
+		var fd = clite.io.open(io.pid,path,clite.io.flags.O_RDONLY|clite.io.flags.O_NOFOLLOW);
+		if (!fd)
+			return null;
+		var st = clite.io.fstatat(io.pid,fd,clite.io.flags.AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW);
+		clite.io.close(io.pid,fd);
+		return st;
 	},
 
 	chmod:function(path,mode) {