diff --git a/applets/kicker/plugin/recentusagemodel.cpp b/applets/kicker/plugin/recentusagemodel.cpp
--- a/applets/kicker/plugin/recentusagemodel.cpp
+++ b/applets/kicker/plugin/recentusagemodel.cpp
@@ -243,9 +243,12 @@
         url.setScheme(QStringLiteral("file"));
     }
 
-    const KFileItem fileItem(url);
+    // Do not call QT_LSTAT in KFileItemPrivate::init().
+    // The QT_LSTAT doesn't return any useful information
+    // for our purposes here.
+    const KFileItem fileItem(url, KFileItem::SkipMimeTypeDetermination);
 
-    if (!url.isValid() || !(fileItem.isFile() || fileItem.isDir())) {
+    if (!url.isValid()) {
         return QVariant();
     }