diff --git a/src/lib9/dirread.c b/src/lib9/dirread.c
index 40fbe3c..6c00dff 100644
--- a/src/lib9/dirread.c
+++ b/src/lib9/dirread.c
@@ -3,54 +3,46 @@
 #include <libc.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <dirent.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 
 extern int _p9dir(struct stat*, struct stat*, char*, Dir*, char**, char*);
 
-#if defined(__linux__)
+#if defined(__DragonFly__)
+static inline int d_reclen(struct dirent *de) { return _DIRENT_DIRSIZ(de); }
+#else
+static inline int d_reclen(struct dirent *de) { return de->d_reclen; }
+#endif
+
 static int
 mygetdents(int fd, struct dirent *buf, int n)
 {
-	off_t off;
-	int nn;
+	int err, nn;
+	DIR *dirp;
+	
+	/* use to calculate max size of a dirent */
+	struct dirent de;
+	int max_sz = (sizeof de - sizeof de.d_name) + NAME_MAX + 1;
+
+	if ((dirp = fdopendir(dup(fd))) == nil)
+		return -1;
 
-	/* This doesn't match the man page, but it works in Debian with a 2.2 kernel */
-	off = p9seek(fd, 0, 1);
-	nn = getdirentries(fd, (void*)buf, n, &off);
+	nn = 0;
+	while(n >= max_sz){
+		if ((err = readdir_r(dirp, buf, &buf)) != 0){
+			errno = err;
+			if(nn == 0)
+				nn = -1;
+			break;
+		}
+		if (buf == nil)
+			break;
+		nn += d_reclen(buf);
+		n -= d_reclen(buf);
+		buf = ((char*)buf) + d_reclen(buf);
+	}
+	closedir(dirp);
 	return nn;
 }
-#elif defined(__APPLE__) 
-static int
-mygetdents(int fd, struct dirent *buf, int n)
-{
-	long off;
-	return getdirentries(fd, (void*)buf, n, &off);
-}
-#elif defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__DragonFly__)
-static int
-mygetdents(int fd, struct dirent *buf, int n)
-{
-	off_t off;
-	return getdirentries(fd, (void*)buf, n, &off);
-}
-#elif defined(__sun__) || defined(__NetBSD__) || defined(__OpenBSD__)
-static int
-mygetdents(int fd, struct dirent *buf, int n)
-{
-	return getdents(fd, (void*)buf, n);
-}
-#elif defined(__AIX__)
-static int
-mygetdents(int fd, struct dirent *buf, int n)
-{
-	return getdirent(fd, (void*)buf, n);
-}
-#endif
-
-#if defined(__DragonFly__)
-static inline int d_reclen(struct dirent *de) { return _DIRENT_DIRSIZ(de); }
-#else
-static inline int d_reclen(struct dirent *de) { return de->d_reclen; }
-#endif
 
 static int
 countde(char *p, int n)