diff --git a/racket/src/racket/src/file.c b/racket/src/racket/src/file.c
index 2c745f2d98..1209ef82f3 100644
--- a/racket/src/racket/src/file.c
+++ b/racket/src/racket/src/file.c
@@ -6088,12 +6088,10 @@ static Scheme_Object *file_or_dir_permissions(int argc, Scheme_Object *argv[])
 	} while ((ok == -1) && (errno == EINTR));
 	execute = !ok;
       
-        /* Don't fail at the exec step if the user is the
-           superuser and errno is EPERM; under Mac OS X,
-           at least, such a failure simply means tha the
-           file is not executable. */
-	if (ok && (errno != EACCES) 
-            && (uid || gid || (errno != EPERM))) {
+        /* Don't fail at the exec step if errno is EPERM; under Mac OS
+           X, at least, such a failure simply means that the file is
+           not executable. */
+	if (ok && (errno != EACCES) && (errno != EPERM)) {
 	  l = NULL;
 	} else {
 	  if (read)