diff --git a/src/nix/ls.cc b/src/nix/ls.cc
index e99622faf4720d16e5b083e52bf9bd485531446f..d089be42fb20c9e99a6d58e1e62391c054b0ef03 100644
--- a/src/nix/ls.cc
+++ b/src/nix/ls.cc
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ struct CmdLsNar : Command, MixLs
 
     void run() override
     {
-        list(makeNarAccessor(make_ref<std::string>(readFile(narPath))));
+        list(makeNarAccessor(make_ref<std::string>(readFile(narPath, true))));
     }
 };