diff --git a/docs/changelog/2794.bugfix.rst b/docs/changelog/2794.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..598a87421
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/2794.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Ignore unreadable directories in ``PATH``.
diff --git a/src/virtualenv/discovery/builtin.py b/src/virtualenv/discovery/builtin.py
index 0b0d26b5d..5012667ab 100644
--- a/src/virtualenv/discovery/builtin.py
+++ b/src/virtualenv/discovery/builtin.py
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ def get_paths(env: Mapping[str, str]) -> Generator[Path, None, None]:
     if path:
         for p in map(Path, path.split(os.pathsep)):
             with suppress(OSError):
-                if p.exists():
+                if next(p.iterdir(), None):
                     yield p
 
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/discovery/test_discovery.py b/tests/unit/discovery/test_discovery.py
index c0156836b..b163be627 100644
--- a/tests/unit/discovery/test_discovery.py
+++ b/tests/unit/discovery/test_discovery.py
@@ -63,6 +63,11 @@ def test_discovery_via_path_not_found(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
 def test_discovery_via_path_in_nonbrowseable_directory(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
     bad_perm = tmp_path / "bad_perm"
     bad_perm.mkdir(mode=0o000)
+    # path entry is unreadable
+    monkeypatch.setenv("PATH", str(bad_perm))
+    interpreter = get_interpreter(uuid4().hex, [])
+    assert interpreter is None
+    # path entry parent is unreadable
     monkeypatch.setenv("PATH", str(bad_perm / "bin"))
     interpreter = get_interpreter(uuid4().hex, [])
     assert interpreter is None