diff -Nur ncurses-4.2/ncurses/tinfo/read_termcap.c ncurses-4.2.orig/ncurses/tinfo/read_termcap.c
--- ncurses-4.2/ncurses/tinfo/read_termcap.c	Tue Dec  8 20:47:42 1998
+++ ncurses-4.2.orig/ncurses/tinfo/read_termcap.c	Tue Dec  8 20:47:13 1998
@@ -1039,8 +1039,11 @@
 		for (i = 0; i < filecount; i++) {
 
 			T(("Looking for %s in %s", tn, termpaths[i]));
-			if ((fp = fopen(termpaths[i], "r")) != (FILE *)0)
+			if ((_nc_access(termpaths[i], R_OK) < 0)
+			    || (fp = fopen(termpaths[i], "r")) == (FILE *)0)
 			{
+			    T(("Could not open %s (error %d)", termpaths[i], errno));
+			} else {
 				_nc_set_source(termpaths[i]);
 
 				/*