diff --git a/src/sandbox/sandbox-manager.ts b/src/sandbox/sandbox-manager.ts
index 73affb426..8e880e161 100644
--- a/src/sandbox/sandbox-manager.ts
+++ b/src/sandbox/sandbox-manager.ts
@@ -1288,6 +1288,10 @@ function unionDenyReadPaths(
  * credential file that degraded to deny) — each names one file on disk, so
  * it is passed through whatever characters it contains. Expanded as a
  * pattern, a name holding `[` matches nothing and the deny is lost.
+ *
+ * Each path once, where it first came up: every `**` pattern over one base
+ * returns the directories it could not list, and the Linux wrapper looks at
+ * every entry it is given.
  */
 function* resolveReadPathEntries(
   kind: PathListKind,
@@ -1296,7 +1300,7 @@ function* resolveReadPathEntries(
   literalPaths: readonly string[] = [],
 ): Steps<string[]> {
   const literal = new Set(literalPaths)
-  const resolved: string[] = []
+  const resolved = new Set<string>()
   for (const p of spelledOf(paths)) {
     const stripped = removeTrailingGlobSuffix(p)
     if (
@@ -1304,14 +1308,19 @@ function* resolveReadPathEntries(
       !literal.has(p) &&
       containsGlobChars(stripped)
     ) {
-      resolved.push(
-        ...(yield* withOtherReadings(p, stripped, kind, expandGlob)),
-      )
+      for (const found of yield* withOtherReadings(
+        p,
+        stripped,
+        kind,
+        expandGlob,
+      )) {
+        resolved.add(found)
+      }
     } else {
-      resolved.push(stripped)
+      resolved.add(stripped)
     }
   }
-  return resolved
+  return [...resolved]
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/sandbox/sandbox-utils.ts b/src/sandbox/sandbox-utils.ts
index 409899cc9..30c5af5a2 100644
--- a/src/sandbox/sandbox-utils.ts
+++ b/src/sandbox/sandbox-utils.ts
@@ -1185,9 +1185,10 @@ export interface ExpandGlobOptions {
   anchor?: string
 }
 
-/** Successful listings, by real directory: a second position, or a second
- *  pattern, reads the same entries. */
-export type GlobWalkListings = Map<string, fs.Dirent[]>
+/** What listing a real directory gave, its entries or the error that has it
+ *  denied whole: a second position, or a second pattern, reads the same
+ *  answer. */
+export type GlobWalkListings = Map<string, fs.Dirent[] | Error>
 
 export type GlobWalkOptions = ExpandGlobOptions & {
   withDirectoryForm?: boolean
@@ -1742,11 +1743,15 @@ export function* walkGlobPatternSteps(
     if (fresh.length === 0) continue
     yield
     for (const p of fresh) listed.add(p)
-    let entries = listings.get(real)
+    let entries: fs.Dirent[]
     try {
-      entries ??= onRealPath(real, frame.short, p =>
-        fs.readdirSync(p, { withFileTypes: true }),
-      )
+      const known = listings.get(real)
+      if (known instanceof Error) throw known
+      entries =
+        known ??
+        onRealPath(real, frame.short, p =>
+          fs.readdirSync(p, { withFileTypes: true }),
+        )
       listings.set(real, entries)
     } catch (err) {
       const errorCode = (err as NodeJS.ErrnoException | undefined)?.code
@@ -1755,6 +1760,10 @@ export function* walkGlobPatternSteps(
         { level: errorCode === 'ENOENT' ? 'info' : 'warn' },
       )
       if (errorCode !== 'ENOENT') {
+        // Kept, or every pattern would try the directory again: one that
+        // would have cleared meanwhile hides more. An absence is not kept. It
+        // is the one answer that denies nothing, so each pattern asks.
+        listings.set(real, err instanceof Error ? err : new Error(String(err)))
         walk.unlisted.push(dir)
         if (real !== dir) walk.realOf.set(dir, real)
       }
diff --git a/test/sandbox/glob-expand.test.ts b/test/sandbox/glob-expand.test.ts
index 97de366d3..32948f29f 100644
--- a/test/sandbox/glob-expand.test.ts
+++ b/test/sandbox/glob-expand.test.ts
@@ -641,6 +641,62 @@ describe.if(!isWindows)('walkGlobPattern', () => {
     }
   })
 
+  it.if(process.getuid?.() !== 0)(
+    'tries a directory it cannot list once for all the patterns handed the same listings',
+    () => {
+      const root = realPath(mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'glob-walk-failed-')))
+      const locked = join(root, 'locked')
+      const open = join(root, 'open')
+      try {
+        mkdirSync(open)
+        writeFileSync(join(open, 'id.pem'), '')
+        mkdirSync(locked)
+        chmodSync(locked, 0o000)
+        const patterns = ['**/.env', '**/*.pem', '**/*.key'].map(p =>
+          join(root, p),
+        )
+        const alone = patterns.map(p => walkGlobPattern(p).unlisted)
+
+        const tried: string[] = []
+        const readdirSync = fs.readdirSync
+        const readdirSpy = spyOn(fs, 'readdirSync').mockImplementation(((
+          ...args: Parameters<typeof fs.readdirSync>
+        ) => {
+          const dir = String(args[0])
+          const askedBefore = tried.includes(dir)
+          tried.push(dir)
+          // Absent when the first pattern asks, and there for the others.
+          if (dir === open && !askedBefore) {
+            throw Object.assign(new Error('gone'), { code: 'ENOENT' })
+          }
+          return readdirSync(...args)
+        }) as typeof fs.readdirSync)
+        let together
+        try {
+          const listings = new Map()
+          together = patterns.map(p => walkGlobPattern(p, { listings }))
+        } finally {
+          readdirSpy.mockRestore()
+        }
+
+        expect(tried.filter(dir => dir === locked)).toEqual([locked])
+        // Every pattern still has it to deny whole.
+        expect(together.map(walk => walk.unlisted)).toEqual(alone)
+        expect(alone).toEqual(patterns.map(() => [locked]))
+        // An absence denies nothing, so it is nobody's answer but the asker's.
+        expect(tried.filter(dir => dir === open)).toEqual([open, open])
+        expect(together.map(walk => walk.matches)).toEqual([
+          [],
+          [join(open, 'id.pem')],
+          [],
+        ])
+      } finally {
+        chmodSync(locked, 0o755)
+        rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
+      }
+    },
+  )
+
   it('lists a directory again under a name the pattern tells apart', () => {
     // vault is reached by its own name, which matches nothing, and through
     // config/secrets, the only spelling `**/secrets/*.pem` matches. However
@@ -1722,6 +1778,41 @@ describe.if(isLinux)('getFsReadConfig with glob patterns on Linux', () => {
     }
   })
 
+  it.if(process.getuid?.() !== 0)(
+    'gives each path once, however many patterns came to it',
+    async () => {
+      const { SandboxManager } = await import(
+        '../../src/sandbox/sandbox-manager.js'
+      )
+      const root = realPath(mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'glob-walk-once-')))
+      const locked = join(root, 'locked')
+      mkdirSync(locked)
+      chmodSync(locked, 0o000)
+      writeFileSync(join(root, 'id.pem'), '')
+
+      await SandboxManager.reset()
+      await SandboxManager.initialize({
+        network: { allowedDomains: [], deniedDomains: [] },
+        filesystem: {
+          // All three could not list `locked`, and two match the file.
+          denyRead: ['**/*.pem', '**/id.*', '**/.env'].map(p => join(root, p)),
+          allowWrite: [],
+          denyWrite: [],
+        },
+      })
+      try {
+        expect(SandboxManager.getFsReadConfig().denyOnly).toEqual([
+          join(root, 'id.pem'),
+          locked,
+        ])
+      } finally {
+        await SandboxManager.reset()
+        chmodSync(locked, 0o755)
+        rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
+      }
+    },
+  )
+
   for (const list of ['denyRead', 'allowRead'] as const) {
     it(`gives up a wrap whose signal is aborted while a ${list} pattern is walked`, async () => {
       const { SandboxManager } = await import(