diff --git a/linux/LinuxMachine.c b/linux/LinuxMachine.c
--- a/linux/LinuxMachine.c
+++ b/linux/LinuxMachine.c
@@ -404,7 +404,15 @@ static void LinuxMachine_scanCPUTime(LinuxMachine* this) {
 
    LinuxMachine_updateCPUcount(this);
 
-   FILE* file = fopen(PROCSTATFILE, "r");
+   FILE* file;
+
+   /* Read the actual procstat file only if the /proc/stat is readable by any means */
+   if (access("/proc/stat", R_OK) == 0){
+      file = fopen("/proc/stat", "r");
+   } else {
+      file = fopen(PROCSTATFILE, "r");
+   }
+
    if (!file)
       CRT_fatalError("Cannot open " PROCSTATFILE);
 
@@ -653,7 +661,14 @@ Machine* Machine_new(UsersTable* usersTable, uid_t userId) {
       CRT_fatalError("Cannot get clock ticks by sysconf(_SC_CLK_TCK)");
 
    // Read btime (the kernel boot time, as number of seconds since the epoch)
-   FILE* statfile = fopen(PROCSTATFILE, "r");
+   FILE* statfile;
+
+   if (access("/proc/stat", R_OK) == 0){
+      statfile = fopen("/proc/stat", "r");
+   } else {
+      statfile = fopen(PROCSTATFILE, "r");
+   }
+
    if (statfile == NULL)
       CRT_fatalError("Cannot open " PROCSTATFILE);