diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index e6d930d31..4772e46d1 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -332,9 +332,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 
   if (noparse) return 0;
 
-  bool ok = true;
-  auto wakefiles = find_all_wakefiles(ok, workspace, verbose);
-  if (!ok) std::cerr << "Workspace wake file enumeration failed" << std::endl;
+  bool enumok = true;
+  auto wakefiles = find_all_wakefiles(enumok, workspace, verbose);
+  if (!enumok) {
+    if (verbose) std::cerr << "Workspace wake file enumeration failed" << std::endl;
+    // Try to run the build anyway; if wake files are missing, it will fail later
+    // The unreadable location might be irrelevant to the build
+  }
 
   uint64_t target_hash = 0;
   if (hash) {
@@ -349,14 +353,18 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
   Profile tree;
   Runtime runtime(profile ? &tree : nullptr, profileh, heap_factor, target_hash);
   bool sources = find_all_sources(runtime, workspace);
-  if (!sources) std::cerr << "Source file enumeration failed" << std::endl;
-  ok &= sources;
+  if (!sources) {
+    if (verbose) std::cerr << "Source file enumeration failed" << std::endl;
+    // Try to run the build anyway; if sources are missing, it will fail later
+    // The unreadable location might be irrelevant to the build
+  }
 
   // Select a default package
   int longest_src_dir = -1;
   bool warned_conflict = false;
 
   // Read all wake build files
+  bool ok = true;
   Scope::debug = debug;
   std::unique_ptr<Top> top(new Top);
   for (auto &i : wakefiles) {
diff --git a/src/sources.cpp b/src/sources.cpp
index 3e353bf14..5867ff945 100644
--- a/src/sources.cpp
+++ b/src/sources.cpp
@@ -569,8 +569,8 @@ std::vector<std::string> find_all_wakefiles(bool &ok, bool workspace, bool verbo
   std::string rel_libdir = make_relative(get_cwd(), make_canonical(abs_libdir));
 
   std::vector<std::string> acc;
-  ok = ok && !push_files(acc, rel_libdir, exp, 0);
-  if (workspace) ok = ok && !push_files(acc, ".", exp, 0);
+  if (push_files(acc, rel_libdir, exp, 0)) ok = false;
+  if (workspace && push_files(acc, ".", exp, 0)) ok = false;
 
   // make the output distinct
   std::sort(acc.begin(), acc.end());
@@ -669,7 +669,7 @@ static PRIMFN(prim_files) {
 
   std::vector<std::string> match;
   bool fail = push_files(match, root, *arg1->exp, skip);
-  if (fail) match.clear(); // !!! There's a hole in the API
+  (void)fail; // !!! There's a hole in the API
 
   size_t need = reserve_list(match.size());
   for (auto &x : match) need += String::reserve(x.size());