diff --git a/kernel/src/Api/BuildNo.hpp b/kernel/src/Api/BuildNo.hpp
index 8d0afdc..4a8b1ef 100644
--- a/kernel/src/Api/BuildNo.hpp
+++ b/kernel/src/Api/BuildNo.hpp
@@ -12,4 +12,4 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
-#define MONTAUK_BUILD_NUMBER 19
+#define MONTAUK_BUILD_NUMBER 20
diff --git a/kernel/src/Fs/Ramdisk.cpp b/kernel/src/Fs/Ramdisk.cpp
index 2af8b67..2b15fd0 100644
--- a/kernel/src/Fs/Ramdisk.cpp
+++ b/kernel/src/Fs/Ramdisk.cpp
@@ -280,6 +280,14 @@ namespace Fs::Ramdisk {
             outNames[count++] = entryName;
         }
 
+        // A path with no directory entry and no children does not exist.
+        // Without this, ReadDir on a nonexistent path returned 0 (empty),
+        // which userspace stat()/access() misread as "directory exists" -
+        // fatal for GCC's driver, which access()-tests optional spec files.
+        if (count == 0 && seen == 0 && pathLen > 0 && selfIdx < 0) {
+            return -1;
+        }
+
         return count;
     }