diff -r f66afda58cc9 lib/libc/net/rcmd.c
--- a/lib/libc/net/rcmd.c	Sat Jan 04 09:12:21 2014 +0200
+++ b/lib/libc/net/rcmd.c	Mon Jan 06 13:15:01 2014 +0200
@@ -447,6 +447,7 @@
 	FILE *hostf;
 	uid_t uid;
 	int first;
+	int hostlstat;
 	char pbuf[MAXPATHLEN];
 	const struct sockaddr *raddr;
 	struct sockaddr_storage ss;
@@ -482,6 +483,7 @@
 		uid = geteuid();
 		(void)seteuid(pwd->pw_uid);
 		hostf = fopen(pbuf, "r");
+		hostlstat = lstat(pbuf, &sbuf);
 		(void)seteuid(uid);
 
 		if (hostf == NULL)
@@ -491,7 +493,7 @@
 		 * user or root or if writeable by anyone but the owner, quit.
 		 */
 		cp = NULL;
-		if (lstat(pbuf, &sbuf) < 0)
+		if (hostlstat < 0)
 			cp = ".rhosts lstat failed";
 		else if (!S_ISREG(sbuf.st_mode))
 			cp = ".rhosts not regular file";