diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 5a3d43ac89..a5d7ae7593 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ Access:
  * SMB/FTP/SFTP accesses can list directories
  * Support for SAT>IP server dialect for RTSP (satip://)
  * New "concat" access module for concatenating byte streams
+ * Named pipes and device nodes are no longer included in directory listings
+   by default. Use --list-special-files to include them back.
 
 Decoder:
  * OMX GPU-zerocopy support for decoding and display on Android using OpenMax IL
diff --git a/modules/access/directory.c b/modules/access/directory.c
index 4ae3e23003..f0e58261dc 100644
--- a/modules/access/directory.c
+++ b/modules/access/directory.c
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ struct access_sys_t
 {
     char *base_uri;
     DIR *dir;
+    bool special_files;
 };
 
 /*****************************************************************************
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ int DirInit (access_t *access, DIR *dir)
         goto error;
 
     sys->dir = dir;
+    sys->special_files = var_InheritBool(access, "list-special-files");
 
     access->p_sys = sys;
     access->pf_readdir = DirRead;
@@ -126,14 +128,31 @@ input_item_t *DirRead(access_t *access)
 
         switch (st.st_mode & S_IFMT)
         {
-            case S_IFBLK: type = ITEM_TYPE_DISC;      break;
-            case S_IFCHR: type = ITEM_TYPE_CARD;      break;
-            case S_IFIFO: type = ITEM_TYPE_STREAM;    break;
-            case S_IFREG: type = ITEM_TYPE_FILE;      break;
-            case S_IFDIR: type = ITEM_TYPE_DIRECTORY; break;
+            case S_IFBLK:
+                if (!sys->special_files)
+                    continue;
+                type = ITEM_TYPE_DISC;
+                break;
+            case S_IFCHR:
+                if (!sys->special_files)
+                    continue;
+                type = ITEM_TYPE_CARD;
+                break;
+            case S_IFIFO:
+                if (!sys->special_files)
+                    continue;
+                type = ITEM_TYPE_STREAM;
+                break;
+            case S_IFREG:
+                type = ITEM_TYPE_FILE;
+                break;
+            case S_IFDIR:
+                type = ITEM_TYPE_DIRECTORY;
+                break;
             /* S_IFLNK cannot occur while following symbolic links */
             /* S_IFSOCK cannot be opened with open()/openat() */
-            default:      continue; /* ignore */
+            default:
+                continue; /* ignore */
         }
 #else
         type = ITEM_TYPE_FILE;
diff --git a/modules/access/fs.c b/modules/access/fs.c
index 89a6cb1921..edce520cd7 100644
--- a/modules/access/fs.c
+++ b/modules/access/fs.c
@@ -50,4 +50,6 @@ vlc_module_begin ()
 #endif
     set_callbacks( DirOpen, DirClose )
 
+    add_bool("list-special-files", false, N_("List special files"),
+             N_("Include devices and pipes when listing directories"), true)
 vlc_module_end ()