diff --git a/nslcd/cfg.c b/nslcd/cfg.c
index 55fb3c4..9907cef 100644
--- a/nslcd/cfg.c
+++ b/nslcd/cfg.c
@@ -1161,6 +1161,25 @@ static void check_file(const char *filename, int lnr,
   }
 }
 
+/* check whether the specified path is a file or a character device */
+static void check_file_or_chardev(const char *filename, int lnr,
+                          const char *keyword, const char *path)
+{
+  struct stat sb;
+  if (stat(path, &sb))
+  {
+    log_log(LOG_ERR, "%s:%d: %s: cannot stat() %s: %s",
+            filename, lnr, keyword, path, strerror(errno));
+    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+  }
+  if (!S_ISCHR(sb.st_mode) && !S_ISREG(sb.st_mode))
+  {
+    log_log(LOG_ERR, "%s:%d: %s: %s is not a file or a character device",
+            filename, lnr, keyword, path);
+    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+  }
+}
+
 /* check whether the specified path is a directory */
 static void check_dir(const char *filename, int lnr,
                       const char *keyword, const char *path)
@@ -1501,7 +1520,7 @@ static void cfg_read(const char *filename, struct ldap_config *cfg)
     {
       value = get_strdup(filename, lnr, keyword, &line);
       get_eol(filename, lnr, keyword, &line);
-      check_file(filename, lnr, keyword, value);
+      check_file_or_chardev(filename, lnr, keyword, value);
       log_log(LOG_DEBUG, "ldap_set_option(LDAP_OPT_X_TLS_RANDOM_FILE,\"%s\")",
               value);
       LDAP_SET_OPTION(NULL, LDAP_OPT_X_TLS_RANDOM_FILE, value);