diff --git a/HISTORY b/HISTORY
index 13c12dbd..ed5c7f9d 100644
--- a/HISTORY
+++ b/HISTORY
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ SnapRAID HISTORY
    You must use the 'nohidden' option in the configuration file.
  * When opening files in read-only mode, also specify the noatime flag,
    to avoid to update the file access time.
+ * Exclude rules are now also applied to directories.
+   This allows to excludes some file/directory without the need to call
+   the stat() function on them.
 
 1.13 2012/11
 ============
diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index f18449dd..2b569724 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -32,14 +32,6 @@ is too complex.
 
 - v2.x
 
-* Checked the include/exclude rules for FILE to include also directories.
-This is needed to allow to exclude files, before even calling stat() on them
-to know if they are file or directory.
-There are some cases where this is needed, like for the ".gvfs" mounted fuse directory by
-gnome that cannot have stat() called *EVEN* by root.
-This is totally wrong, because the stat() manpage explicitely tells that no permissions are
-needed to call stat().
-
 * Remove the old MD5 support.
 
 * A new 'init' command to differentiate the first 'sync' operation.
diff --git a/portable.h b/portable.h
index b6fdded2..8640c0de 100644
--- a/portable.h
+++ b/portable.h
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ static int open_noatime(const char* file, int flags)
 	return f;
 }
 #else
-#define open_noatime open 
+#define open_noatime open
 #endif
 
 /**
diff --git a/scan.c b/scan.c
index 1a5a01ac..40948e09 100644
--- a/scan.c
+++ b/scan.c
@@ -480,6 +480,14 @@ static void scan_dir(struct snapraid_scan* scan, struct snapraid_state* state, i
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 		}
 
+		/* exclude files before doing any check on them */
+		if (filter_path(&state->filterlist, disk->name, sub_next) != 0) {
+			if (state->verbose) {
+				printf("Excluding file '%s'\n", path_next);
+			}
+			continue;
+		}
+
 		/* get info about the file */
 		if (lstat(path_next, &st) != 0) {
 			fprintf(stderr, "Error in stat file/directory '%s'. %s.\n", path_next, strerror(errno));
@@ -489,7 +497,6 @@ static void scan_dir(struct snapraid_scan* scan, struct snapraid_state* state, i
 		if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode)) {
 			if (filter_hidden(state->filter_hidden, dd, &st) == 0
 				&& filter_content(&state->contentlist, path_next) == 0
-				&& filter_path(&state->filterlist, disk->name, sub_next) == 0
 			) {
 				/* check for read permission */
 				if (access(path_next, R_OK) != 0) {
@@ -514,7 +521,6 @@ static void scan_dir(struct snapraid_scan* scan, struct snapraid_state* state, i
 			}
 		} else if (S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) {
 			if (filter_hidden(state->filter_hidden, dd, &st) == 0
-				&& filter_path(&state->filterlist, disk->name, sub_next) == 0
 			) {
 				char subnew[PATH_MAX];
 				int ret;
@@ -553,7 +559,6 @@ static void scan_dir(struct snapraid_scan* scan, struct snapraid_state* state, i
 		} else {
 			if (filter_hidden(state->filter_hidden, dd, &st) == 0
 				&& filter_content(&state->contentlist, path_next) == 0
-				&& filter_path(&state->filterlist, disk->name, sub_next) == 0
 			) {
 				fprintf(stderr, "warning: Ignoring special '%s' file '%s'\n", stat_desc(&st), path_next);
 			} else {
diff --git a/snapraid.1 b/snapraid.1
index dfbfaeda..d22636d3 100644
--- a/snapraid.1
+++ b/snapraid.1
@@ -644,7 +644,7 @@ There are four different types of patterns:
 .B FILE
 Selects any file named as FILE. You can use any globbing
 character like * and ?.
-This pattern is applied only to files and not to directories.
+This pattern is applied to both files and directories.
 .TP
 .B DIR/
 Selects any directory named DIR. You can use any globbing
@@ -655,7 +655,7 @@ This pattern is applied only to directories and not to files.
 Selects the exact specified file path. You can use any
 globbing character like * and ? but they never matches a
 directory slash.
-This pattern is applied only to files and not to directories.
+This pattern is applied to both files and directories.
 .TP
 .B /PATH/DIR/
 Selects the exact specified directory path. You can use any
diff --git a/snapraid.d b/snapraid.d
index cb7c4441..dad1ea4a 100644
--- a/snapraid.d
+++ b/snapraid.d
@@ -465,7 +465,7 @@ Pattern
 	=FILE
 		Selects any file named as FILE. You can use any globbing
 		character like * and ?.
-		This pattern is applied only to files and not to directories.
+		This pattern is applied to both files and directories.
 
 	=DIR/
 		Selects any directory named DIR. You can use any globbing
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ Pattern
 		Selects the exact specified file path. You can use any
 		globbing character like * and ? but they never matches a
 		directory slash.
-		This pattern is applied only to files and not to directories.
+		This pattern is applied to both files and directories.
 
 	=/PATH/DIR/
 		Selects the exact specified directory path. You can use any