diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/ChangeLog b/winsup/cygwin/ChangeLog
index f2f419bdd..db442d365 100644
--- a/winsup/cygwin/ChangeLog
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2003-04-03  Corinna Vinschen  <corinna@vinschen.de>
+
+	* external.cc (check_ntsec): Return general ntsec state on NULL
+	filename.  Check wincap.is_security() additionally.
+
 2003-04-02  Christopher Faylor  <cgf@redhat.com>
 
 	* Makefile.in (EXTRA_OFILES): Remove debugging object.
diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/external.cc b/winsup/cygwin/external.cc
index 6aa7e90bb..3accc6300 100644
--- a/winsup/cygwin/external.cc
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/external.cc
@@ -124,8 +124,10 @@ get_cygdrive_prefixes (char *user, char *system)
 static DWORD
 check_ntsec (const char *filename)
 {
+  if (!filename)
+    return wincap.has_security () && allow_ntsec;
   path_conv pc (filename);
-  return allow_ntsec && pc.has_acls ();
+  return wincap.has_security () && allow_ntsec && pc.has_acls ();
 }
 
 extern "C" unsigned long