diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index e0fef95..da10f09 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ today) with lint, fmt, fmt-check, check, and hooks targets.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+* 2026-10-06: a path that `--exclude` or `--exclude-dotfiles` excludes
+    is skipped even when it cannot be read, so an excluded directory
+    that cannot be listed no longer fails the run
 * 2026-10-06: `check --continue` keeps going past a file or directory
     it cannot read: it counts it as failed, prints the error and the
     path on stderr, and checks the rest of the tree
diff --git a/attrsum.go b/attrsum.go
index 5cfd6d9..7ec7499 100644
--- a/attrsum.go
+++ b/attrsum.go
@@ -613,6 +613,12 @@ func countFiles(opts *options, root string, cont bool) (int64, error) {
 	root = filepath.Clean(root)
 
 	err := filepath.Walk(root, func(p string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
+		// An excluded path is skipped whatever went wrong reading it.
+		rel, _ := filepath.Rel(root, p)
+		if err != nil && shouldExclude(opts, rel) {
+			return nil
+		}
+
 		if err != nil && cont {
 			return nil
 		}
@@ -627,7 +633,6 @@ func countFiles(opts *options, root string, cont bool) (int64, error) {
 			return nil
 		}
 
-		rel, _ := filepath.Rel(root, p)
 		if shouldExclude(opts, rel) {
 			if info.IsDir() {
 				return filepath.SkipDir
@@ -699,6 +704,12 @@ func walkAndProcess(
 	root = filepath.Clean(root)
 
 	return filepath.Walk(root, func(p string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
+		// An excluded path is skipped whatever went wrong reading it.
+		rel, _ := filepath.Rel(root, p)
+		if err != nil && shouldExclude(opts, rel) {
+			return nil
+		}
+
 		if err != nil {
 			return unreadable(cont, stats, err)
 		}
diff --git a/attrsum_test.go b/attrsum_test.go
index 803acb7..c1e5db0 100644
--- a/attrsum_test.go
+++ b/attrsum_test.go
@@ -214,6 +214,54 @@ func TestExcludeDotfilesAndPatterns(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestExcludeUnreadableDir(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	opts := &options{excludePatterns: []string{"locked"}}
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	skipIfNoXattr(t, dir)
+
+	keep := writeFile(t, dir, "keep.txt", "keep")
+	hidden := writeFile(t, dir, "locked/a.txt", "hidden")
+
+	// The excluded directory cannot be listed.
+	sub := filepath.Join(dir, "locked")
+
+	err := os.Chmod(sub, noPerm)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("chmod dir: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() { _ = os.Chmod(sub, dirPerm) }()
+
+	err = processSumAdd(opts, dir, newTestStats(), nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("add: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	_, err = xattr.Get(keep, checksumKey)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected xattr on keep.txt: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Without --quiet, runCheck counts the files for the progress bar
+	// before it checks any, so this also covers the count.
+	err = runCheck(opts, []string{dir}, false)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("check: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	err = os.Chmod(sub, dirPerm)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("chmod dir back: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	_, err = xattr.Get(hidden, checksumKey)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("locked/a.txt should have been excluded")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestSkipBrokenSymlink(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()