diff --git a/copyparty/authsrv.py b/copyparty/authsrv.py
index a3f4b7f4..f67b6870 100644
--- a/copyparty/authsrv.py
+++ b/copyparty/authsrv.py
@@ -165,8 +165,11 @@ class Lim(object):
         self.chk_rem(rem)
         if sz != -1:
             self.chk_sz(sz)
-            self.chk_vsz(broker, ptop, sz, volgetter)
-            self.chk_df(abspath, sz)  # side effects; keep last-ish
+        else:
+            sz = 0
+
+        self.chk_vsz(broker, ptop, sz, volgetter)
+        self.chk_df(abspath, sz)  # side effects; keep last-ish
 
         ap2, vp2 = self.rot(abspath)
         if abspath == ap2:
@@ -206,7 +209,15 @@ class Lim(object):
 
         if self.dft < time.time():
             self.dft = int(time.time()) + 300
-            self.dfv = get_df(abspath)[0] or 0
+
+            df, du, err = get_df(abspath, True)
+            if err:
+                t = "failed to read disk space usage for [%s]: %s"
+                self.log(t % (abspath, err), 3)
+                self.dfv = 0xAAAAAAAAA  # 42.6 GiB
+            else:
+                self.dfv = df or 0
+
             for j in list(self.reg.values()) if self.reg else []:
                 self.dfv -= int(j["size"] / (len(j["hash"]) or 999) * len(j["need"]))
 
diff --git a/copyparty/httpcli.py b/copyparty/httpcli.py
index 926b09b3..d00da5ce 100644
--- a/copyparty/httpcli.py
+++ b/copyparty/httpcli.py
@@ -5105,7 +5105,7 @@ class HttpCli(object):
             self.log("#wow #whoa")
 
         if not self.args.nid:
-            free, total = get_df(abspath)
+            free, total, _ = get_df(abspath, False)
             if total is not None:
                 h1 = humansize(free or 0)
                 h2 = humansize(total)
diff --git a/copyparty/metrics.py b/copyparty/metrics.py
index 2539a5e1..af54c93f 100644
--- a/copyparty/metrics.py
+++ b/copyparty/metrics.py
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ class Metrics(object):
             addbh("cpp_disk_size_bytes", "total HDD size of volume")
             addbh("cpp_disk_free_bytes", "free HDD space in volume")
             for vpath, vol in allvols:
-                free, total = get_df(vol.realpath)
+                free, total, _ = get_df(vol.realpath, False)
                 if free is None or total is None:
                     continue
 
diff --git a/copyparty/util.py b/copyparty/util.py
index 21f50b84..61264e7d 100644
--- a/copyparty/util.py
+++ b/copyparty/util.py
@@ -213,6 +213,9 @@ except:
 ansi_re = re.compile("\033\\[[^mK]*[mK]")
 
 
+BOS_SEP = ("%s" % (os.sep,)).encode("ascii")
+
+
 surrogateescape.register_surrogateescape()
 if WINDOWS and PY2:
     FS_ENCODING = "utf-8"
@@ -2492,23 +2495,28 @@ def wunlink(log: "NamedLogger", abspath: str, flags: dict[str, Any]) -> bool:
     return _fs_mvrm(log, abspath, "", False, flags)
 
 
-def get_df(abspath: str) -> tuple[Optional[int], Optional[int]]:
+def get_df(abspath: str, prune: bool) -> tuple[Optional[int], Optional[int], str]:
     try:
-        # some fuses misbehave
-        assert ctypes  # type: ignore  # !rm
+        ap = fsenc(abspath)
+        while prune and not os.path.isdir(ap) and BOS_SEP in ap:
+            # strip leafs until it hits an existing folder
+            ap = ap.rsplit(BOS_SEP, 1)[0]
+
         if ANYWIN:
+            assert ctypes  # type: ignore  # !rm
+            abspath = fsdec(ap)
             bfree = ctypes.c_ulonglong(0)
             ctypes.windll.kernel32.GetDiskFreeSpaceExW(  # type: ignore
                 ctypes.c_wchar_p(abspath), None, None, ctypes.pointer(bfree)
             )
-            return (bfree.value, None)
+            return (bfree.value, None, "")
         else:
-            sv = os.statvfs(fsenc(abspath))
+            sv = os.statvfs(ap)
             free = sv.f_frsize * sv.f_bfree
             total = sv.f_frsize * sv.f_blocks
-            return (free, total)
-    except:
-        return (None, None)
+            return (free, total, "")
+    except Exception as ex:
+        return (None, None, repr(ex))
 
 
 if not ANYWIN and not MACOS: