diff --git a/src/sigar_fileinfo.c b/src/sigar_fileinfo.c
index d2f9a2a2..75c4e1fe 100644
--- a/src/sigar_fileinfo.c
+++ b/src/sigar_fileinfo.c
@@ -589,9 +589,9 @@ int sigar_link_attrs_get(sigar_t *sigar,
     }
 }
 
-int sigar_dir_stat_get(sigar_t *sigar,
-                       const char *dir,
-                       sigar_dir_stat_t *dirstats)
+static int dir_stat_get(sigar_t *sigar,
+                        const char *dir,
+                        sigar_dir_stat_t *dirstats)
 {
     char name[SIGAR_PATH_MAX+1];
     int len = strlen(dir);
@@ -608,8 +608,6 @@ int sigar_dir_stat_get(sigar_t *sigar,
         return errno;
     }
 
-    SIGAR_ZERO(dirstats);    
-
     strncpy(name, dir, sizeof(name));
     ptr += len;
     if (name[len] != '/') {
@@ -677,4 +675,12 @@ int sigar_dir_stat_get(sigar_t *sigar,
     return SIGAR_OK;
 }
 
+int sigar_dir_stat_get(sigar_t *sigar,
+                       const char *dir,
+                       sigar_dir_stat_t *dirstats)
+{
+    SIGAR_ZERO(dirstats);    
+    return dir_stat_get(sigar, dir, dirstats);
+}
+
 #endif