diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 2f5948dbc..55b84eed4 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ To update |kitty|, :doc:`follow the instructions <binary>`.
   boundary rather than the end of the selection. To restore previous behavior
   use ``mouse_map right press ungrabbed mouse_selection move-end``.
 
+- When opening hyperlinks, allow defining open actions for directories
+  (:pull:`3836`)
+
 - Fix a bug in the implementation of the synchronized updates escape code that
   could cause incorrect parsing if either the pending buffer capacity or the
   pending timeout were exceeded (:iss:`3779`)
diff --git a/docs/open_actions.rst b/docs/open_actions.rst
index c557a453a..70b20588a 100644
--- a/docs/open_actions.rst
+++ b/docs/open_actions.rst
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ lines. The various available criteria are:
     :file:`mime.types` in the kitty configuration directory. Useful if your
     system MIME database does not have definitions you need. This file is
     in the standard format of one definition per line, like: ``text/plain rst
-    md``.
+    md``. Note that the MIME type for directories is ``inode/directory``.
 
 ``ext``
     A comma separated list of file extensions, for example: ``jpeg, tar.gz``
diff --git a/kitty/guess_mime_type.py b/kitty/guess_mime_type.py
index 4a2a3d0db..048036d29 100644
--- a/kitty/guess_mime_type.py
+++ b/kitty/guess_mime_type.py
@@ -28,8 +28,12 @@ def is_rc_file(path: str) -> bool:
     name = os.path.basename(path)
     return '.' not in name and name.endswith('rc')
 
+
 def is_folder(path: str) -> bool:
-    return os.path.isdir(path)
+    with suppress(OSError):
+        return os.path.isdir(path)
+    return False
+
 
 def initialize_mime_database() -> None:
     if hasattr(initialize_mime_database, 'inited'):
@@ -43,7 +47,9 @@ def initialize_mime_database() -> None:
         init((local_defs,))
 
 
-def guess_type(path: str) -> Optional[str]:
+def guess_type(path: str, allow_filesystem_access: bool = False) -> Optional[str]:
+    if allow_filesystem_access and is_folder(path):
+        return 'inode/directory'
     from mimetypes import guess_type as stdlib_guess_type
     initialize_mime_database()
     mt = None
diff --git a/kitty/open_actions.py b/kitty/open_actions.py
index acd144db1..eb398b0f0 100644
--- a/kitty/open_actions.py
+++ b/kitty/open_actions.py
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ def url_matches_criterion(purl: 'ParseResult', url: str, unquoted_path: str, mc:
 
     if mc.type == 'mime':
         import fnmatch
-        mt = guess_type(unquoted_path)
+        mt = guess_type(unquoted_path, allow_filesystem_access=True)
         if not mt:
             return False
         mt = mt.lower()