diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/AbstractAdapter.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/AbstractAdapter.php
index 477a58a073..46473b3d5a 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/AbstractAdapter.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/AbstractAdapter.php
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ abstract class AbstractAdapter implements AdapterInterface
     protected $sort        = false;
     protected $paths       = array();
     protected $notPaths    = array();
+    protected $ignoreUnreadableDirs = false;
 
     private static $areSupported = array();
 
@@ -210,6 +211,16 @@ abstract class AbstractAdapter implements AdapterInterface
         return $this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * {@inheritdoc}
+     */
+    public function ignoreUnreadableDirs($ignore = true)
+    {
+        $this->ignoreUnreadableDirs = (Boolean) $ignore;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns whether the adapter is supported in the current environment.
      *
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/AbstractFindAdapter.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/AbstractFindAdapter.php
index d63478339a..60bebba15c 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/AbstractFindAdapter.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/AbstractFindAdapter.php
@@ -92,9 +92,12 @@ abstract class AbstractFindAdapter extends AbstractAdapter
             $this->buildSorting($command, $this->sort);
         }
 
-        $command->setErrorHandler(function ($stderr) {
-            throw new AccessDeniedException($stderr);
-        });
+        $command->setErrorHandler(
+            $this->ignoreUnreadableDirs
+                // If directory is unreadable and finder is set to ignore it, `stderr` is ignored.
+                ? function ($stderr) { return; }
+                : function ($stderr) { throw new AccessDeniedException($stderr); }
+        );
 
         $paths = $this->shell->testCommand('uniq') ? $command->add('| uniq')->execute() : array_unique($command->execute());
         $iterator = new Iterator\FilePathsIterator($paths, $dir);
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/AdapterInterface.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/AdapterInterface.php
index f28ffb3189..50c018bc50 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/AdapterInterface.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/AdapterInterface.php
@@ -114,6 +114,13 @@ interface AdapterInterface
      */
     public function setNotPath(array $notPaths);
 
+    /**
+     * @param boolean $ignore
+     *
+     * @return AdapterInterface Current instance
+     */
+    public function ignoreUnreadableDirs($ignore = true);
+
     /**
      * @param string $dir
      *
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/PhpAdapter.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/PhpAdapter.php
index 7abdcdad52..378a26acda 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/PhpAdapter.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Adapter/PhpAdapter.php
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class PhpAdapter extends AbstractAdapter
         }
 
         $iterator = new \RecursiveIteratorIterator(
-            new Iterator\RecursiveDirectoryIterator($dir, $flags),
+            new Iterator\RecursiveDirectoryIterator($dir, $flags, $this->ignoreUnreadableDirs),
             \RecursiveIteratorIterator::SELF_FIRST
         );
 
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Finder.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Finder.php
index f3ba20cf04..43a8643650 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Finder.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Finder.php
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ class Finder implements \IteratorAggregate, \Countable
     private $adapters    = array();
     private $paths       = array();
     private $notPaths    = array();
+    private $ignoreUnreadableDirs = false;
 
     private static $vcsPatterns = array('.svn', '_svn', 'CVS', '_darcs', '.arch-params', '.monotone', '.bzr', '.git', '.hg');
 
@@ -626,6 +627,22 @@ class Finder implements \IteratorAggregate, \Countable
         return $this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Tells finder to ignore unreadable directories.
+     *
+     * By default, scanning unreadable directories content throws an AccessDeniedException.
+     *
+     * @param boolean $ignore
+     *
+     * @return Finder The current Finder instance
+     */
+    public function ignoreUnreadableDirs($ignore = true)
+    {
+        $this->ignoreUnreadableDirs = (Boolean) $ignore;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Searches files and directories which match defined rules.
      *
@@ -794,7 +811,8 @@ class Finder implements \IteratorAggregate, \Countable
             ->setFilters($this->filters)
             ->setSort($this->sort)
             ->setPath($this->paths)
-            ->setNotPath($this->notPaths);
+            ->setNotPath($this->notPaths)
+            ->ignoreUnreadableDirs($this->ignoreUnreadableDirs);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Iterator/RecursiveDirectoryIterator.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Iterator/RecursiveDirectoryIterator.php
index 0fafcdb61e..d08f644088 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Iterator/RecursiveDirectoryIterator.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Iterator/RecursiveDirectoryIterator.php
@@ -21,13 +21,28 @@ use Symfony\Component\Finder\SplFileInfo;
  */
 class RecursiveDirectoryIterator extends \RecursiveDirectoryIterator
 {
-    public function __construct($path, $flags)
+    /**
+     * @var boolean
+     */
+    private $ignoreUnreadableDirs;
+
+    /**
+     * Constructor.
+     *
+     * @param string  $path
+     * @param int     $flags
+     * @param boolean $ignoreUnreadableDirs
+     *
+     * @throws \RuntimeException
+     */
+    public function __construct($path, $flags, $ignoreUnreadableDirs = false)
     {
         if ($flags & (self::CURRENT_AS_PATHNAME | self::CURRENT_AS_SELF)) {
             throw new \RuntimeException('This iterator only support returning current as fileinfo.');
         }
 
         parent::__construct($path, $flags);
+        $this->ignoreUnreadableDirs = $ignoreUnreadableDirs;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -41,7 +56,7 @@ class RecursiveDirectoryIterator extends \RecursiveDirectoryIterator
     }
 
     /**
-     * @return mixed object
+     * @return \RecursiveIterator
      *
      * @throws AccessDeniedException
      */
@@ -50,7 +65,12 @@ class RecursiveDirectoryIterator extends \RecursiveDirectoryIterator
         try {
             return parent::getChildren();
         } catch (\UnexpectedValueException $e) {
-            throw new AccessDeniedException($e->getMessage(), $e->getCode(), $e);
+            if ($this->ignoreUnreadableDirs) {
+                // If directory is unreadable and finder is set to ignore it, a fake empty content is returned.
+                return new \RecursiveArrayIterator(array());
+            } else {
+                throw new AccessDeniedException($e->getMessage(), $e->getCode(), $e);
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Tests/FinderTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Tests/FinderTest.php
index 89b04ceca3..12d029e593 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Tests/FinderTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Finder/Tests/FinderTest.php
@@ -725,16 +725,34 @@ class FinderTest extends Iterator\RealIteratorTestCase
         $finder = $this->buildFinder($adapter);
         $finder->files()->in(self::$tmpDir);
 
-        // make 'foo' directory non-openable
+        // make 'foo' directory non-readable
         chmod(self::$tmpDir.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'foo', 0333);
 
         try {
-            $this->assertIterator($this->toAbsolute(array('test.php', 'test.py')), $finder->getIterator());
+            $this->assertIterator($this->toAbsolute(array('foo bar', 'test.php', 'test.py')), $finder->getIterator());
             $this->fail('Finder should throw an exception when opening a non-readable directory.');
         } catch (\Exception $e) {
             $this->assertEquals('Symfony\\Component\\Finder\\Exception\\AccessDeniedException', get_class($e));
         }
 
+        // restore original permissions
+        chmod(self::$tmpDir.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'foo', 0777);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider getAdaptersTestData
+     */
+    public function testIgnoredAccessDeniedException(Adapter\AdapterInterface $adapter)
+    {
+        $finder = $this->buildFinder($adapter);
+        $finder->files()->ignoreUnreadableDirs()->in(self::$tmpDir);
+
+        // make 'foo' directory non-readable
+        chmod(self::$tmpDir.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'foo', 0333);
+
+        $this->assertIterator($this->toAbsolute(array('foo bar', 'test.php', 'test.py')), $finder->getIterator());
+
+        // restore original permissions
         chmod(self::$tmpDir.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'foo', 0777);
     }