diff --git a/nse_fs.cc b/nse_fs.cc
index e146f9b7e..bfce8e74e 100644
--- a/nse_fs.cc
+++ b/nse_fs.cc
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ extern "C" {
   #include "lauxlib.h"
 }
 
-#include <vector>
 #include <string>
 #include <string.h>
 
@@ -18,7 +17,25 @@ extern "C" {
 #include "nmap_error.h"
 #include "NmapOps.h"
 
-#define MAX_FILENAME_LEN 4096
+#define DIR_METATABLE "dir"
+
+#ifndef MAXPATHLEN
+#   define MAXPATHLEN 2048
+#endif
+
+#ifndef MAX_DIR_LENGTH
+#   define MAX_DIR_LENGTH 1024
+#endif
+
+typedef struct dir_data {
+  int  closed;
+#ifdef WIN32
+  long hFile;
+  char pattern[MAX_DIR_LENGTH+1];
+#else
+  DIR *dir;
+#endif
+} dir_data;
 
 extern NmapOps o;
 
@@ -32,22 +49,7 @@ static bool filename_is_absolute(const char *file) {
   return false;
 }
 
-/* This is simply the most portable way to check
- * if a file has a given extension.
- * The portability comes at the price of reduced
- * flexibility.
- */
-int nse_check_extension (const char* ext, const char* path)
-{
-  int pathlen = strlen(path);
-  int extlen = strlen(ext);
-  if (extlen > pathlen || pathlen > MAX_FILENAME_LEN)
-    return 0;
-  else
-    return strcmp(path + pathlen - extlen, ext) == 0;
-}
-
-int nse_fetchfile(char *path, size_t path_len, const char *file) {
+static int nse_fetchfile(char *path, size_t path_len, const char *file) {
   int type = nmap_fetchfile(path, path_len, file);
 
   // lets look in <nmap>/scripts too
@@ -62,7 +64,7 @@ int nse_fetchfile(char *path, size_t path_len, const char *file) {
 /* This is a modification of nse_fetchfile that first looks for an
  * absolute file name.
  */
-int nse_fetchfile_absolute(char *path, size_t path_len, const char *file) {
+static int nse_fetchfile_absolute(char *path, size_t path_len, const char *file) {
   if (filename_is_absolute(file)) {
     if (o.debugging > 1)
       log_write(LOG_STDOUT, "%s: Trying absolute path %s\n", SCRIPT_ENGINE, file);
@@ -73,124 +75,159 @@ int nse_fetchfile_absolute(char *path, size_t path_len, const char *file) {
   return nse_fetchfile(path, path_len, file);
 }
 
-#ifdef WIN32
-
-int nse_scandir (lua_State *L) {
-  HANDLE dir;
-  WIN32_FIND_DATA entry;
-  std::string path;
-  BOOL morefiles = FALSE;
-  const char *dirname = luaL_checkstring(L, 1);
-  int files_or_dirs = luaL_checkint(L, 2);
-
-  lua_createtable(L, 100, 0); // 100 files average
-
-  dir = FindFirstFile((std::string(dirname) + "\\*").c_str(), &entry);
-
-  if (dir == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
+int fetchfile_absolute (lua_State *L)
+{
+  char path[MAXPATHLEN];
+  switch (nse_fetchfile_absolute(path, sizeof(path), luaL_checkstring(L, 1)))
   {
-    error("%s: No files in '%s\\*'", SCRIPT_ENGINE, dirname);
-    return 0;
+    case 0: // no such path
+      lua_pushnil(L);
+      lua_pushfstring(L, "no path to file/directory: %s", lua_tostring(L, 1));
+      break;
+    case 1: // file returned
+      lua_pushliteral(L, "file");
+      lua_pushstring(L, path);
+      break;
+    case 2: // directory returned
+      lua_pushliteral(L, "directory");
+      lua_pushstring(L, path);
+      break;
+    default:
+      return luaL_error(L, "nse_fetchfile_absolute returned bad code");
   }
-
-  while(!(morefiles == FALSE && GetLastError() == ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES)) {
-    // if we are looking for files and this file doesn't end with .nse or
-    // is a directory, then we don't look further at it
-    if(files_or_dirs == NSE_FILES) {
-      if(!((nse_check_extension(SCRIPT_ENGINE_EXTENSION, entry.cFileName))
-            && !(entry.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY)
-          )) {
-        morefiles = FindNextFile(dir, &entry);
-        continue;
-      }
-
-      // if we are looking for dirs and this dir
-      // isn't a directory, then we don't look further at it
-    } else if(files_or_dirs == NSE_DIRS) {
-      if(!(entry.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY)) {
-        morefiles = FindNextFile(dir, &entry);
-        continue;
-      }
-
-      // they have passed an invalid value for files_or_dirs
-    } else {
-      fatal("%s: In: %s:%i This should never happen.",
-        SCRIPT_ENGINE, __FILE__, __LINE__);
-    }
-
-    // otherwise we add it to the results
-    // we assume that dirname ends with a directory separator of some kind
-    path = std::string(dirname) + "\\" + std::string(entry.cFileName);
-    lua_pushstring(L, path.c_str());
-    lua_rawseti(L, -2, lua_objlen(L, -2) + 1);
-    morefiles = FindNextFile(dir, &entry);
-  }
-
-
-  return 1;
+  return 2;
 }
 
+
+/* LuaFileSystem directory iterator port.
+ * 
+ * LuaFileSystem library:
+ * by Roberto Ierusalimschy, Andre Carregal and Tomas Guisasola
+ * as part of the Kepler Project.
+ * LuaFileSystem is currently maintained by Fabio Mascarenhas.
+ * 
+ * LuaFileSystem is a Lua library developed to complement the set
+ * of functions related to file systems offered by the standard
+ * Lua distribution.
+ * LuaFileSystem offers a portable way to access the underlying
+ * directory structure and file attributes.
+ *
+ * LuaFileSystem is free software and uses the same license as Lua 5.1.
+ * 
+ * the most recent copy can be found at
+ * http://www.keplerproject.org/luafilesystem/
+ *
+ * Note: this is a port of the LuaFileSystem directory iterator for the
+ * Nmap project http://nmap.org
+ **/
+
+/*
+** Directory iterator
+*/
+static int dir_iter (lua_State *L) {
+#ifdef WIN32
+  struct _finddata_t c_file;
 #else
-
-int nse_scandir (lua_State *L) {
-  DIR* dir;
-  struct dirent* entry;
-  struct stat stat_entry;
-  const char *dirname = luaL_checkstring(L, 1);
-  int files_or_dirs = luaL_checkint(L, 2);
-
-    lua_createtable(L, 100, 0); // 100 files average
-
-  dir = opendir(dirname);
-  if(dir == NULL) {
-    error("%s: Could not open directory '%s'.", SCRIPT_ENGINE, dirname);
+  struct dirent *entry;
+#endif
+  dir_data *d = (dir_data *)luaL_checkudata(L, 1, DIR_METATABLE);
+  luaL_argcheck(L, !d->closed, 1, "closed directory");
+#ifdef WIN32
+  if (d->hFile == 0L) { /* first entry */
+    if ((d->hFile = _findfirst(d->pattern, &c_file)) == -1L) {
+        lua_pushnil(L);
+        lua_pushstring(L, strerror (errno));
+        return 2;
+    } else {
+	lua_pushstring(L, c_file.name);
+	return 1;
+    }
+  } else { /* next entry */
+    if (_findnext(d->hFile, &c_file) == -1L) {
+      /* no more entries => close directory */
+      _findclose(d->hFile);
+      d->closed = 1;
+      return 0;
+    } else {
+        lua_pushstring(L, c_file.name);
+        return 1;
+    }
+  }
+#else
+  if ((entry = readdir(d->dir)) != NULL) {
+    lua_pushstring(L, entry->d_name);
+    return 1;
+  } else {
+    /* no more entries => close directory */
+    closedir(d->dir);
+    d->closed = 1;
     return 0;
   }
-
-  // note that if there is a symlink in the dir, we have to rely on
-  // the .nse extension
-  // if they provide a symlink to a dir which ends with .nse, things
-  // break :/
-  while((entry = readdir(dir)) != NULL) {
-    std::string path = std::string(dirname) + "/" + std::string(entry->d_name);
-
-    if(stat(path.c_str(), &stat_entry) != 0)
-      fatal("%s: In: %s:%i This should never happen.",
-        SCRIPT_ENGINE, __FILE__, __LINE__);
-
-    // if we are looking for files and this file doesn't end with .nse and
-    // isn't a file or a link, then we don't look further at it
-    if(files_or_dirs == NSE_FILES) {
-      if(!(nse_check_extension(SCRIPT_ENGINE_EXTENSION, entry->d_name)
-           && (S_ISREG(stat_entry.st_mode)
-               || S_ISLNK(stat_entry.st_mode))
-          )) {
-        continue;
-      }
-
-      // if we are looking for dirs and this dir
-      // isn't a dir or a link, then we don't look further at it
-    } else if(files_or_dirs == NSE_DIRS) {
-      if(!(S_ISDIR(stat_entry.st_mode)
-           || S_ISLNK(stat_entry.st_mode)
-          )) {
-        continue;
-      }
-
-      // they have passed an invalid value for files_or_dirs
-    } else {
-      fatal("%s: In: %s:%i This should never happen.",
-        SCRIPT_ENGINE, __FILE__, __LINE__);
-    }
-
-    // otherwise we add it to the results
-    lua_pushstring(L, path.c_str());
-    lua_rawseti(L, -2, lua_objlen(L, -2) + 1);
-  }
-
-  closedir(dir);
-
-  return 1;
+#endif
 }
 
+/*
+** Closes directory iterators
+*/
+static int dir_close (lua_State *L) {
+  dir_data *d = (dir_data *)lua_touserdata(L, 1);
+#ifdef WIN32
+  if (!d->closed && d->hFile) {
+    _findclose(d->hFile);
+    d->closed = 1;
+  }
+#else
+  if (!d->closed && d->dir) {
+    closedir(d->dir);
+    d->closed = 1;
+  }
 #endif
+  return 0;
+}
+
+/*
+** Factory of directory iterators
+*/
+int nse_readdir (lua_State *L) {
+  const char *dirname = luaL_checkstring(L, 1);
+  dir_data *d;
+  lua_pushcfunction(L, dir_iter);
+  d = (dir_data *)lua_newuserdata(L, sizeof(dir_data));
+  d->closed = 0;
+#ifdef  WIN32
+  d->hFile = 0L;
+  luaL_getmetatable(L, DIR_METATABLE);
+  lua_setmetatable(L, -2);
+  if (strlen(dirname) > MAX_DIR_LENGTH)
+    luaL_error(L, "%s: Path too long '%s'.", SCRIPT_ENGINE, dirname);
+  else
+    Snprintf(d->pattern, MAX_DIR_LENGTH, "%s/*", dirname);
+#else
+  luaL_getmetatable(L, DIR_METATABLE);
+  lua_setmetatable(L, -2);
+  d->dir = opendir(dirname);
+  if (d->dir == NULL)
+    luaL_error(L, "%s: Could not open directory '%s'.", SCRIPT_ENGINE, dirname);
+#endif
+  return 2;
+}
+
+int luaopen_fs(lua_State *L)
+{
+  /* create the dir metatable */
+  luaL_newmetatable(L, DIR_METATABLE);
+  lua_pushstring(L, "__index");
+  lua_newtable(L);
+  lua_pushstring(L, "next"); 
+  lua_pushcfunction(L, dir_iter);
+  lua_settable(L, -3);
+  lua_pushstring (L, "close");
+  lua_pushcfunction (L, dir_close);
+  lua_settable(L, -3);
+  lua_settable(L, -3);
+  lua_pushstring(L, "__gc");
+  lua_pushcfunction (L, dir_close);
+  lua_settable(L, -3);
+  lua_pop(L, 1);
+  return 0;
+}
diff --git a/nse_fs.h b/nse_fs.h
index e5fe55b4b..2be2486e7 100644
--- a/nse_fs.h
+++ b/nse_fs.h
@@ -1,15 +1,10 @@
 #ifndef NSE_FS
 #define NSE_FS
 
-int nse_check_extension (const char* ext, const char* path);
+int fetchfile_absolute (lua_State *L);
 
-int nse_fetchfile(char *path, size_t path_len, const char *file);
+int nse_readdir (lua_State *L);
 
-int nse_fetchfile_absolute(char *path, size_t path_len, const char *file);
-
-int nse_scandir (lua_State *L);
-
-#define NSE_FILES 1
-#define NSE_DIRS  2
+int luaopen_fs (lua_State *L);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/nse_main.cc b/nse_main.cc
index b96addb4c..7175abf83 100644
--- a/nse_main.cc
+++ b/nse_main.cc
@@ -31,7 +31,9 @@
 #define NSE_SELECTED_BY_NAME "NSE_SELECTED_BY_NAME"
 #define NSE_CURRENT_HOSTS "NSE_CURRENT_HOSTS"
 
-#define MAX_FILENAME_LEN 4096
+#ifndef MAXPATHLEN
+#  define MAXPATHLEN 2048
+#endif
 
 extern NmapOps o;
 
@@ -123,39 +125,6 @@ static int port_set_output (lua_State *L)
   return 0;
 }
 
-static int fetchfile_absolute (lua_State *L)
-{
-  char path[MAX_FILENAME_LEN];
-  switch (nse_fetchfile_absolute(path, sizeof(path), luaL_checkstring(L, 1)))
-  {
-    case 0: // no such path
-      lua_pushnil(L);
-      lua_pushfstring(L, "no path to file/directory: %s", lua_tostring(L, 1));
-      break;
-    case 1: // file returned
-      lua_pushliteral(L, "file");
-      lua_pushstring(L, path);
-      break;
-    case 2: // directory returned
-      lua_pushliteral(L, "directory");
-      lua_pushstring(L, path);
-      break;
-    default:
-      return luaL_error(L, "nse_fetchfile_absolute returned bad code");
-  }
-  return 2;
-}
-
-static int dump_dir (lua_State *L)
-{
-  luaL_checkstring(L, 1);
-  lua_pushcclosure(L, nse_scandir, 0);
-  lua_pushvalue(L, 1);
-  lua_pushinteger(L, NSE_FILES);
-  lua_call(L, 2, 1);
-  return 1;
-}
-
 /* This must call the l_nsock_loop function defined in nse_nsock.cc.
  * That closure is created in luaopen_nsock in order to allow
  * l_nsock_loop to have access to the nsock library environment.
@@ -217,7 +186,7 @@ static void open_cnse (lua_State *L)
 {
   static const luaL_Reg nse[] = {
     {"fetchfile_absolute", fetchfile_absolute},
-    {"dump_dir", dump_dir},
+    {"dir", nse_readdir},
     {"nsock_loop", nsock_loop},
     {"key_was_pressed", key_was_pressed},
     {"updatedb", updatedb},
@@ -231,6 +200,9 @@ static void open_cnse (lua_State *L)
     {NULL, NULL}
   };
 
+  /* create dir metatable */
+  luaopen_fs(L);
+
   lua_newtable(L);
   luaL_register(L, NULL, nse);
   /* Add some other fields */
@@ -325,7 +297,13 @@ int script_updatedb (void)
     "local db = assert(open(path..'script.db', 'w'),\n"
     "  'could not open database for writing')\n"
     /* dump the scripts/categories */
-    "local scripts = nse.dump_dir(path)\n"
+    "local scripts = {}\n"
+    "for f in nse.dir(path) do\n"
+    "  if match(f, '%.nse$') then\n"
+    "    local file = path ..\"/\".. f\n"
+    "    table.insert(scripts, file)\n"
+    "  end\n"
+    "end\n"
     "table.sort(scripts)\n"
     "for i, script in ipairs(scripts) do\n"
     "  local env = setmetatable({}, {__index = _G})\n"
@@ -377,7 +355,7 @@ int script_updatedb (void)
 
 static int init_main (lua_State *L)
 {
-  char path[MAX_FILENAME_LEN];
+  char path[MAXPATHLEN];
   std::vector<std::string> *rules = (std::vector<std::string> *)
       lua_touserdata(L, 1);
 
@@ -397,7 +375,7 @@ static int init_main (lua_State *L)
   lua_setfield(L, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX, NSE_TRACEBACK); /* save copy */
 
   /* Load main Lua code, stack position 2 */
-  if (nmap_fetchfile(path, MAX_FILENAME_LEN, "nse_main.lua") != 1)
+  if (nmap_fetchfile(path, sizeof(path), "nse_main.lua") != 1)
     luaL_error(L, "could not locate nse_main.lua");
   if (luaL_loadfile(L, path) != 0)
     luaL_error(L, "could not load nse_main.lua: %s", lua_tostring(L, -1));
diff --git a/nse_main.lua b/nse_main.lua
index 65ce55233..ab14db172 100644
--- a/nse_main.lua
+++ b/nse_main.lua
@@ -469,8 +469,9 @@ local function get_chosen_scripts (rules)
         print_debug(2, "Script %s was selected by name.", script.filename);
         files_loaded[path] = true;
       elseif t == "directory" then
-        for i, file in ipairs(cnse.dump_dir(path)) do
-          if not files_loaded[file] then
+        for f in cnse.dir(path) do
+          local file = path .."/".. f
+          if find(f, "%.nse$") and not files_loaded[file] then
             chosen_scripts[#chosen_scripts+1] = Script.new(file);
             files_loaded[file] = true;
           end
diff --git a/nse_nsock.cc b/nse_nsock.cc
index 548e5ca5f..2bd6f3d51 100644
--- a/nse_nsock.cc
+++ b/nse_nsock.cc
@@ -26,7 +26,10 @@ extern "C"
 #  include <openssl/ssl.h>
 #endif
 
-#define SCRIPT_ENGINE      "NSE"
+#ifndef SCRIPT_ENGINE
+#  define SCRIPT_ENGINE      "NSE"
+#endif
+
 #define NSOCK_WRAPPER      "NSOCK WRAPPER"
 #define NSOCK_WRAPPER_SUCCESS    0
 #define NSOCK_WRAPPER_ERROR    2