diff --git a/src/skillspector/input_handler.py b/src/skillspector/input_handler.py
index 9daf9e18..6468bbf3 100644
--- a/src/skillspector/input_handler.py
+++ b/src/skillspector/input_handler.py
@@ -297,7 +297,11 @@ def _open_regular_file_no_follow(file_path: Path) -> BinaryIO:
 
 def _open_regular_file_from_trusted_directory(file_path: Path) -> BinaryIO:
     """Open *file_path* one non-symlinked component at a time."""
-    directory_flags = os.O_RDONLY | os.O_DIRECTORY | os.O_NOFOLLOW
+    # Traversal only needs search access on each component. Prefer O_PATH where it
+    # exists (Linux); O_RDONLY additionally demands read access, which sandboxes
+    # such as Landlock withhold on "/". Elsewhere (e.g. macOS) this is O_RDONLY,
+    # i.e. 0, leaving the flags unchanged.
+    directory_flags = os.O_DIRECTORY | os.O_NOFOLLOW | getattr(os, "O_PATH", os.O_RDONLY)
     directory_fd: int | None = None
     try:
         directory_fd = os.open(file_path.anchor, directory_flags)
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_input_handler.py b/tests/unit/test_input_handler.py
index 70e33ba2..ec52b678 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_input_handler.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_input_handler.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
     ALLOWED_GIT_HOSTS,
     InputHandler,
     _open_regular_file_from_windows_handle,
+    _open_regular_file_no_follow,
 )
 
 
@@ -233,6 +234,24 @@ def test_resolve_file_open_failure_does_not_create_temp_dir(tmp_path: Path) -> N
         handler.cleanup()
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(not hasattr(os, "O_PATH"), reason="requires O_PATH (Linux)")
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    hasattr(os, "geteuid") and os.geteuid() == 0, reason="root bypasses directory permissions"
+)
+def test_secure_open_traverses_search_only_ancestors(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Traversal needs search access on ancestors, not read access."""
+    parent = tmp_path / "search_only"
+    parent.mkdir()
+    source = parent / "SKILL.md"
+    source.write_text("# Skill", encoding="utf-8")
+    os.chmod(parent, 0o111)
+    try:
+        with _open_regular_file_no_follow(source) as opened:
+            assert opened.read() == b"# Skill"
+    finally:
+        os.chmod(parent, 0o755)
+
+
 def test_resolve_file_rejects_platform_without_safe_open_support(
     tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
 ) -> None: