diff --git a/include/fs/fs.h b/include/fs/fs.h
index 50ccf1fb64d..d35b6a6976f 100644
--- a/include/fs/fs.h
+++ b/include/fs/fs.h
@@ -362,7 +362,12 @@ int fs_opendir(struct fs_dir_t *zdp, const char *path);
 /**
  * @brief Directory read entry
  *
- * Reads directory entries of a open directory
+ * Reads directory entries of a open directory.
+ *
+ * @note: Most existing underlying file systems do not generate POSIX
+ * special directory entries "." or "..".  For consistency the
+ * abstraction layer will remove these from lower layer results so
+ * higher layers see consistent results.
  *
  * @param zdp Pointer to the directory object
  * @param entry Pointer to zfs_dirent structure to read the entry into
diff --git a/subsys/fs/fs.c b/subsys/fs/fs.c
index 6ec4bc59cde..fedec7c15ae 100644
--- a/subsys/fs/fs.c
+++ b/subsys/fs/fs.c
@@ -255,11 +255,25 @@ int fs_readdir(struct fs_dir_t *zdp, struct fs_dirent *entry)
 		int rc = -EINVAL;
 
 		if (zdp->mp->fs->readdir != NULL) {
-			rc = zdp->mp->fs->readdir(zdp, entry);
+			/* Loop until error or not special directory */
+			while (true) {
+				rc = zdp->mp->fs->readdir(zdp, entry);
+				if (rc < 0) {
+					break;
+				}
+				if (entry->type != FS_DIR_ENTRY_DIR) {
+					break;
+				}
+				if ((strcmp(entry->name, ".") != 0)
+				    && (strcmp(entry->name, "..") != 0)) {
+					break;
+				}
+			}
 			if (rc < 0) {
 				LOG_ERR("directory read error (%d)", rc);
 			}
 		}
+
 		return rc;
 	}
 
diff --git a/tests/subsys/fs/littlefs/src/testfs_util.c b/tests/subsys/fs/littlefs/src/testfs_util.c
index f21159e2e0f..9f1827a77f6 100644
--- a/tests/subsys/fs/littlefs/src/testfs_util.c
+++ b/tests/subsys/fs/littlefs/src/testfs_util.c
@@ -393,7 +393,8 @@ int testfs_bcmd_verify_layout(struct testfs_path *pp,
 			 stat.size);
 
 		if (dotdir) {
-			/* ignore */
+			zassert_true(false,
+				     "special directories observed");
 		} else if (cp != NULL) {
 			rc = check_layout_entry(pp, &stat, cp, ecp);
 			if (rc > 0) {