diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Iterator/RecursiveDirectoryIterator.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Iterator/RecursiveDirectoryIterator.php
index 9ff0787661937..7e389273f9f42 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Iterator/RecursiveDirectoryIterator.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Iterator/RecursiveDirectoryIterator.php
@@ -79,7 +79,31 @@ public function current()
     }
 
     /**
-     * @return \RecursiveIterator
+     * @param bool $allowLinks
+     *
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    #[\ReturnTypeWillChange]
+    public function hasChildren($allowLinks = false)
+    {
+        $hasChildren = parent::hasChildren($allowLinks);
+
+        if (!$hasChildren || !$this->ignoreUnreadableDirs) {
+            return $hasChildren;
+        }
+
+        try {
+            parent::getChildren();
+
+            return true;
+        } catch (\UnexpectedValueException $e) {
+            // If directory is unreadable and finder is set to ignore it, skip children
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return \RecursiveDirectoryIterator
      *
      * @throws AccessDeniedException
      */
@@ -100,12 +124,7 @@ public function getChildren()
 
             return $children;
         } catch (\UnexpectedValueException $e) {
-            if ($this->ignoreUnreadableDirs) {
-                // If directory is unreadable and finder is set to ignore it, a fake empty content is returned.
-                return new \RecursiveArrayIterator([]);
-            } else {
-                throw new AccessDeniedException($e->getMessage(), $e->getCode(), $e);
-            }
+            throw new AccessDeniedException($e->getMessage(), $e->getCode(), $e);
         }
     }