diff --git a/src/fileio.cpp b/src/fileio.cpp
index 803baa60f2..6c07e52a93 100644
--- a/src/fileio.cpp
+++ b/src/fileio.cpp
@@ -212,10 +212,6 @@ static FILE *FioFOpenFileSp(const std::string &filename, const char *mode, Searc
 		buf = _searchpaths[sp] + _subdirs[subdir] + filename;
 	}
 
-#if defined(_WIN32)
-	if (mode[0] == 'r' && GetFileAttributes(OTTD2FS(buf).c_str()) == INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES) return nullptr;
-#endif
-
 	f = fopen(buf.c_str(), mode);
 #if !defined(_WIN32)
 	if (f == nullptr && strtolower(buf, subdir == NO_DIRECTORY ? 0 : _searchpaths[sp].size() - 1) ) {