diff --git a/src/ls.c b/src/ls.c
index 9494ae9..42e7bc3 100644
--- a/src/ls.c
+++ b/src/ls.c
@@ -2883,6 +2883,7 @@ gobble_file (char const *name, enum filetype type, ino_t inode,
   memset (f, '\0', sizeof *f);
   f->stat.st_ino = inode;
   f->filetype = type;
+  f->linkok = true;
 
   if (command_line_arg
       || format_needs_stat
@@ -2928,6 +2929,7 @@ gobble_file (char const *name, enum filetype type, ino_t inode,
       bool do_deref;
       int err;
 
+      f->linkok = false;
       if (name[0] == '/' || dirname[0] == 0)
         absolute_name = (char *) name;
       else