diff --git a/handlers.go b/handlers.go
index dcde69a..efb8647 100644
--- a/handlers.go
+++ b/handlers.go
@@ -123,18 +123,6 @@ func checkVerificationCode(path string, verifier *verificationRegistry, timeout
 
 /**********************************************************************/
 
-func checkValidRegistrationPath(path string) error {
-    info, err := os.Lstat(path) // distinguish between directories and symlinks to one.
-    if err != nil {
-        return fmt.Errorf("failed to stat; %w", err)
-    } else if info.Mode() & fs.ModeSymlink != 0 {
-        return errors.New("path cannot be a symbolic link to a directory")
-    } else if !info.IsDir() {
-        return errors.New("path should be a directory")
-    }
-    return nil
-}
-
 func newRegisterStartHandler(verifier *verificationRegistry) func(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) {
     return func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
         if r.Body == nil {
@@ -155,7 +143,7 @@ func newRegisterStartHandler(verifier *verificationRegistry) func(http.ResponseW
             return
         }
 
-        err = checkValidRegistrationPath(regpath)
+        err = verifyDirectory(regpath)
         if err != nil {
             dumpErrorResponse(w, http.StatusBadRequest, err.Error())
             return
@@ -195,7 +183,7 @@ func newRegisterFinishHandler(db *sql.DB, verifier *verificationRegistry, tokeni
             return
         }
 
-        err = checkValidRegistrationPath(regpath)
+        err = verifyDirectory(regpath)
         if err != nil {
             dumpHttpErrorResponse(w, err)
             return
diff --git a/handlers_test.go b/handlers_test.go
index f508a81..e047c5e 100644
--- a/handlers_test.go
+++ b/handlers_test.go
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ func TestRegisterHandlers(t *testing.T) {
         }
     })
 
-    t.Run("register start failure", func(t *testing.T) {
+    t.Run("register start symlink", func(t *testing.T) {
         handler := http.HandlerFunc(newRegisterStartHandler(verifier))
 
         tmp, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "")
@@ -254,8 +254,8 @@ func TestRegisterHandlers(t *testing.T) {
         req := createJsonRequest("POST", "/register/start", map[string]interface{}{ "path": to_add2 }, t)
         rr := httptest.NewRecorder()
         handler.ServeHTTP(rr, req)
-        if rr.Code != http.StatusBadRequest {
-            t.Fatalf("registration of a symlink should have failed")
+        if rr.Code != http.StatusAccepted {
+            t.Fatalf("should have succeeded")
         }
     })
 
diff --git a/list.go b/list.go
index f2a7c4f..426df12 100644
--- a/list.go
+++ b/list.go
@@ -7,26 +7,8 @@ import (
     "path/filepath"
     "strings"
     "errors"
-    "net/http"
 )
 
-func verifyDirectory(dir string) error {
-    info, err := os.Stat(dir)
-    if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
-        return newHttpError(http.StatusNotFound, fmt.Errorf("path %q does not exist", dir))
-    }
-
-    if err != nil {
-        return fmt.Errorf("failed to check %q; %w", dir, err)
-    }
-
-    if !info.IsDir() {
-        return newHttpError(http.StatusBadRequest, fmt.Errorf("%q is not a directory", dir))
-    }
-
-    return nil
-}
-
 func listFiles(dir string, recursive bool) ([]string, error) {
     err := verifyDirectory(dir)
     if err != nil {
diff --git a/utils.go b/utils.go
index 5c52b38..3dd387f 100644
--- a/utils.go
+++ b/utils.go
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 package main
 
+import (
+    "fmt"
+    "os"
+    "net/http"
+    "errors"
+)
+
 type httpError struct {
     Status int
     Reason error
@@ -16,3 +23,20 @@ func (r *httpError) Unwrap() error {
 func newHttpError(status int, reason error) *httpError {
     return &httpError{ Status: status, Reason: reason }
 }
+
+func verifyDirectory(dir string) error {
+    info, err := os.Stat(dir)
+    if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+        return newHttpError(http.StatusNotFound, fmt.Errorf("path %q does not exist", dir))
+    }
+
+    if err != nil {
+        return fmt.Errorf("failed to check %q; %w", dir, err)
+    }
+
+    if !info.IsDir() {
+        return newHttpError(http.StatusBadRequest, fmt.Errorf("%q is not a directory", dir))
+    }
+
+    return nil
+}