diff --git a/src/browser.c b/src/browser.c
index bd85b3e1..7a759320 100644
--- a/src/browser.c
+++ b/src/browser.c
@@ -709,14 +709,10 @@ char *browse_in(const char *inpath)
 		path = free_and_assign(path, strip_last_component(path));
 
 		if (stat(path, &fileinfo) == -1 || !S_ISDIR(fileinfo.st_mode)) {
-			char *currentdir = nmalloc(PATH_MAX + 1);
-
-			path = free_and_assign(path, getcwd(currentdir, PATH_MAX + 1));
+			path = free_and_assign(path, realpath(".", NULL));
 
 			if (path == NULL) {
-				statusline(MILD, _("The working directory has disappeared"));
-				free(currentdir);
-				beep();
+				statusline(ALERT, _("The working directory has disappeared"));
 				napms(1200);
 				return NULL;
 			}
diff --git a/src/files.c b/src/files.c
index 51bc1dce..5c9a768a 100644
--- a/src/files.c
+++ b/src/files.c
@@ -358,8 +358,7 @@ bool has_valid_path(const char *filename)
 			statusline(ALERT, _("The working directory has disappeared"));
 
 		free(currentdir);
-	} else
-	if (stat(parentdir, &parentinfo) == -1) {
+	} else if (stat(parentdir, &parentinfo) == -1) {
 		if (errno == ENOENT)
 			/* TRANSLATORS: Keep the next ten messages at most 76 characters. */
 			statusline(ALERT, _("Directory '%s' does not exist"), parentdir);