uutils
diff --git a/src/uu/shred/src/shred.rs b/src/uu/shred/src/shred.rs
@@ -624,17 +624,26 @@ fn wipe_file(
         }
     }
 
-    if !path.exists() {
-        return Err(USimpleError::new(
-            1,
-            translate!("shred-no-such-file-or-directory", "file" => path.maybe_quote()),
-        ));
-    }
-    if !path.is_file() {
-        return Err(USimpleError::new(
-            1,
-            translate!("shred-not-a-file", "file" => path.maybe_quote()),
-        ));
+    // `Path::exists()` and `Path::is_file()` both collapse any metadata error
+    // (including a permission error) into `false`, which made shred report a
+    // file whose parent directory lacks search permission as "No such file or
+    // directory". Inspect the metadata directly so a genuine `ENOENT` stays a
+    // "no such file" error while a permission error falls through to the
+    // open-for-writing below, which surfaces the real reason.
+    match fs::metadata(path) {
+        Ok(md) if !md.is_file() => {
+            return Err(USimpleError::new(
+                1,
+                translate!("shred-not-a-file", "file" => path.maybe_quote()),
+            ));
+        }
+        Err(err) if err.kind() == io::ErrorKind::NotFound => {
+            return Err(USimpleError::new(
+                1,
+                translate!("shred-no-such-file-or-directory", "file" => path.maybe_quote()),
+            ));
+        }
+        _ => {}
     }
 
     let metadata =

diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_shred.rs b/tests/by-util/test_shred.rs
@@ -470,3 +470,31 @@ fn test_shred_trailing_slash_on_dir() {
         .fails()
         .stderr_contains("Is a directory");
 }
+
+#[test]
+#[cfg(unix)]
+fn test_shred_inaccessible_file_reports_real_error() {
+    // A file whose parent directory lacks search permission must not be
+    // misreported as "No such file or directory": `Path::exists()` and
+    // `Path::is_file()` collapse the permission error into `false`.
+    use std::fs::{Permissions, set_permissions};
+    use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt;
+
+    let scene = TestScenario::new(util_name!());
+    let at = &scene.fixtures;
+
+    at.mkdir("locked");
+    at.touch("locked/file");
+    set_permissions(at.plus_as_string("locked"), Permissions::from_mode(0o000)).unwrap();
+
+    let result = scene.ucmd().arg("locked/file").fails();
+    result.stderr_contains("Permission denied");
+    assert!(
+        !result.stderr_str().contains("No such file"),
+        "shred misreported an inaccessible file as missing: {}",
+        result.stderr_str()
+    );
+
+    // Restore search permission so the fixture directory can be cleaned up.
+    set_permissions(at.plus_as_string("locked"), Permissions::from_mode(0o755)).unwrap();
+}