diff --git a/src/csync.c b/src/csync.c
index dbdb9c9b4..67bace52d 100644
--- a/src/csync.c
+++ b/src/csync.c
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ int csync_create(CSYNC **csync, const char *local, const char *remote) {
 
   ctx->options.max_depth = MAX_DEPTH;
   ctx->options.max_time_difference = MAX_TIME_DIFFERENCE;
+  ctx->options.unix_filesystem = 0;
 
   ctx->pwd.uid = getuid();
   ctx->pwd.euid = geteuid();
@@ -274,6 +275,12 @@ int csync_init(CSYNC *ctx) {
     goto out;
   }
 
+  if (csync_unix_filesystem(ctx) < 0) {
+    CSYNC_LOG(CSYNC_LOG_PRIORITY_FATAL, "Could not detect filesystem type.");
+    rc = -1;
+    goto out;
+  }
+
   if (c_rbtree_create(&ctx->local.tree, _key_cmp, _data_cmp) < 0) {
     rc = -1;
     goto out;
diff --git a/src/csync_exclude.c b/src/csync_exclude.c
index 90e86b01c..6328e5048 100644
--- a/src/csync_exclude.c
+++ b/src/csync_exclude.c
@@ -105,6 +105,26 @@ void csync_exclude_destroy(CSYNC *ctx) {
 
 int csync_excluded(CSYNC *ctx, const char *path) {
   size_t i;
+  const char *p;
+
+  if (! ctx->options.unix_filesystem) {
+    for (p = path; *p; p++) {
+      switch (*p) {
+        case '/':
+        case '\\':
+        case ':':
+        case '?':
+        case '*':
+        case '"':
+        case '>':
+        case '<':
+        case '|':
+          return 1;
+        default:
+          break;
+      }
+    }
+  }
 
   if (ctx->excludes == NULL) {
     return 0;
diff --git a/src/csync_private.h b/src/csync_private.h
index 967403b60..378adcf73 100644
--- a/src/csync_private.h
+++ b/src/csync_private.h
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ struct csync_s {
     int max_depth;
     int max_time_difference;
     int sync_symbolic_links;
+    int unix_filesystem;
     char *config_dir;
   } options;
 
diff --git a/src/csync_util.c b/src/csync_util.c
index a71b8b2d3..ed63bb6b3 100644
--- a/src/csync_util.c
+++ b/src/csync_util.c
@@ -253,3 +253,37 @@ out:
   return rc;
 }
 
+int csync_unix_filesystem(CSYNC *ctx) {
+  int rc = -1;
+  char *uri = NULL;
+  csync_vio_handle_t *fp = NULL;
+
+  ctx->options.unix_filesystem = 0;
+
+  if (asprintf(&uri, "%s/csync_file*test.ctmp", ctx->remote.uri) < 0) {
+    rc = -1;
+    goto out;
+  }
+
+  ctx->replica = ctx->remote.type;
+  fp = csync_vio_creat(ctx, uri, 0644);
+  if (fp == NULL) {
+    rc = 0;
+    CSYNC_LOG(CSYNC_LOG_PRIORITY_INFO,
+        "Disabled unix filesystem synchronization");
+    goto out;
+  }
+  csync_vio_close(ctx, fp);
+
+  ctx->options.unix_filesystem = 1;
+  CSYNC_LOG(CSYNC_LOG_PRIORITY_INFO, "Enabled unix filesystem synchronization");
+
+  rc = 1;
+
+out:
+  csync_vio_unlink(ctx, uri);
+  SAFE_FREE(uri);
+
+  return rc;
+}
+
diff --git a/src/csync_util.h b/src/csync_util.h
index cff1ef777..d04e4542e 100644
--- a/src/csync_util.h
+++ b/src/csync_util.h
@@ -31,4 +31,6 @@ void csync_memstat_check(void);
 
 int csync_merge_file_trees(CSYNC *ctx);
 
+int csync_unix_filesystem(CSYNC *ctx);
+
 #endif /* _CSYNC_UTIL_H */