diff --git a/checkin_notes b/checkin_notes
index 9d2b7cc812..e6b2a35959 100644
--- a/checkin_notes
+++ b/checkin_notes
@@ -2705,3 +2705,14 @@ David  Mar 27 2008
     tools/
         update_versions
     version.h
+
+David  Mar 27 2008
+    - Library: switch from lstat() back to stat() most places;
+        this broke some projects' back-end code.
+        Make a new function (boinc_file_or_symlink_exists())
+        for use by the client when clearing out slot dirs
+
+    client/
+        sandbox.C
+    lib/
+        filesys.C,h
diff --git a/client/sandbox.C b/client/sandbox.C
index 7310670eaf..d9f1033627 100644
--- a/client/sandbox.C
+++ b/client/sandbox.C
@@ -149,12 +149,12 @@ static int delete_project_owned_file_aux(const char* path) {
 // Delete the file located at path.
 // If "retry" is set, do retries for 5 sec in case some
 // other program (e.g. virus checker) has the file locked.
-// Don't do this if deleting directories - it can lock up Manager.
+// Don't do this if deleting directories - it can lock up the Manager.
 //
 int delete_project_owned_file(const char* path, bool retry) {
     int retval = 0;
 
-    if (!boinc_file_exists(path)) {
+    if (!boinc_file_or_symlink_exists(path)) {
         return 0;
     }
     retval = delete_project_owned_file_aux(path);
diff --git a/lib/filesys.C b/lib/filesys.C
index 7d8977eb74..ad5a40bcc4 100644
--- a/lib/filesys.C
+++ b/lib/filesys.C
@@ -74,20 +74,17 @@ using std::string;
 
 char boinc_failed_file[256];
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
-#define lstat(x,y) stat(x,y)
-#endif
 // routines for enumerating the entries in a directory
 
 int is_file(const char* path) {
     struct stat sbuf;
-    int retval = lstat(path, &sbuf);
+    int retval = stat(path, &sbuf);
     return (!retval && (sbuf.st_mode & S_IFREG));
 }
 
 int is_dir(const char* path) {
     struct stat sbuf;
-    int retval = lstat(path, &sbuf);
+    int retval = stat(path, &sbuf);
     return (!retval && (sbuf.st_mode & S_IFDIR));
 }
 
@@ -287,7 +284,7 @@ int file_size(const char* path, double& size) {
     struct stat sbuf;
     int retval;
 
-    retval = lstat(path, &sbuf);
+    retval = stat(path, &sbuf);
     if (retval) return ERR_NOT_FOUND;
     size = (double)sbuf.st_size;
     return 0;
@@ -445,8 +442,21 @@ FILE* boinc_fopen(const char* path, const char* mode) {
 
 int boinc_file_exists(const char* path) {
    struct stat buf;
+   if (stat(path, &buf)) {
+       return false;     // stat() returns zero on success
+   }
+   return true;
+}
 
+// same, but doesn't traverse symlinks
+//
+int boinc_file_or_symlink_exists(const char* path) {
+   struct stat buf;
+#ifdef _WIN32
+   if (stat(path, &buf)) {
+#else
    if (lstat(path, &buf)) {
+#endif
        return false;     // stat() returns zero on success
    }
    return true;
diff --git a/lib/filesys.h b/lib/filesys.h
index f830614055..b807301064 100644
--- a/lib/filesys.h
+++ b/lib/filesys.h
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ extern "C" {
   extern int is_dir(const char* path);
   extern int boinc_truncate(const char*, double);
   extern int boinc_file_exists(const char* path);
+  extern int boinc_file_or_symlink_exists(const char* path);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }