diff --git a/lib/path_list/candidate/jruby_windows_fix.rb b/lib/path_list/candidate/jruby_windows_fix.rb
index 2acf719..0a08939 100644
--- a/lib/path_list/candidate/jruby_windows_fix.rb
+++ b/lib/path_list/candidate/jruby_windows_fix.rb
@@ -3,28 +3,18 @@ class PathList
   class Candidate
     # @api private
     module JrubyWindowsFix
-      # @return [Boolean] whether this path is a directory (false for symlinks to directories)
-      def directory?
-        return @directory unless @directory.nil?
-
-        @directory = if ::File.symlink?(@full_path)
-          false
-        else
-          ::File.directory?(@full_path) || false
-        end
-      end
-
-      # @return [Boolean] whether this path exists
-      def exists?
-        return @exists if defined?(@exists)
-
-        ::File.exist?(@full_path)
-      end
-
       private
 
       def ftype
-        raise 'File.ftype follows symlinks in jruby in windows'
+        return @ftype if @ftype
+
+        @ftype = if ::File.symlink?(@full_path)
+          "link"
+        else
+          ::File.ftype(@full_path)
+        end
+      rescue ::SystemCallError
+        @ftype = 'error'
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/spec/path_list_spec.rb b/spec/path_list_spec.rb
index 0061f31..5e15bba 100644
--- a/spec/path_list_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/path_list_spec.rb
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@
     it 'copes with being given fs root' do
       whatever_file_we_get = subject.each('/').first
       expect(whatever_file_we_get).not_to start_with('/')
-      # use ftype because it could be a symlink to nowhere and File.exist? will be sad
-      expect { File.ftype("/#{whatever_file_we_get}") }.not_to raise_error(Errno::ENOENT)
+      # use symlink? because it could be a symlink to nowhere and File.exist? would return false
+      expect { File.symlink?("/#{whatever_file_we_get}") || File.exist?("/#{whatever_file_we_get}") }.not_to raise_error
     end
 
     it 'copes with being given nonsense root' do