diff --git a/src/mzscheme/src/file.c b/src/mzscheme/src/file.c
index bc14d2cc20..0686849c2c 100644
--- a/src/mzscheme/src/file.c
+++ b/src/mzscheme/src/file.c
@@ -4628,7 +4628,7 @@ static Scheme_Object *cleanse_path(int argc, Scheme_Object *argv[])
 				"cleanse-path",
 				&expanded,
 				1, 0,
-				SCHEME_GUARD_FILE_EXISTS, 
+				0, /* no security check, since the filesystem is not used */ 
                                 SCHEME_PLATFORM_PATH_KIND,
                                 0);