diff -ur procps-3.2.8/proc/readproc.c procps-3.2.8.mine/proc/readproc.c
--- procps-3.2.8/proc/readproc.c	2006-06-16 10:18:13.000000000 +0200
+++ procps-3.2.8.mine/proc/readproc.c	2010-08-28 06:40:26.000000000 +0200
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 
+/* global variables to read /proc entries blindly if proc is not readable */
+int current_pid;
+int max_pid;
+
 // sometimes it's easier to do this manually, w/o gcc helping
 #ifdef PROF
 extern void __cyg_profile_func_enter(void*,void*);
@@ -700,15 +704,25 @@
 static int simple_nextpid(PROCTAB *restrict const PT, proc_t *restrict const p) {
   static struct direct *ent;		/* dirent handle */
   char *restrict const path = PT->path;
-  for (;;) {
-    ent = readdir(PT->procfs);
-    if(unlikely(unlikely(!ent) || unlikely(!ent->d_name))) return 0;
-    if(likely( likely(*ent->d_name > '0') && likely(*ent->d_name <= '9') )) break;
+  if (PT->procfs) {
+    for (;;) {
+      ent = readdir(PT->procfs);
+      if(unlikely(unlikely(!ent) || unlikely(!ent->d_name))) return 0;
+      if(likely( likely(*ent->d_name > '0') && likely(*ent->d_name <= '9') )) break;
+    }
+    p->tgid = strtoul(ent->d_name, NULL, 10);
+    p->tid = p->tgid;
+    memcpy(path, "/proc/", 6);
+    strcpy(path+6, ent->d_name);  // trust /proc to not contain evil top-level entries
+  }
+  else {
+    for (;;) {
+      if (unlikely(++current_pid > max_pid)) return 0;
+      snprintf(path, PROCPATHLEN, "/proc/%i", current_pid);
+      if (unlikely(!access(path,F_OK))) break;
+    }
+    p->tid = p->tgid = current_pid;
   }
-  p->tgid = strtoul(ent->d_name, NULL, 10);
-  p->tid = p->tgid;
-  memcpy(path, "/proc/", 6);
-  strcpy(path+6, ent->d_name);  // trust /proc to not contain evil top-level entries
   return 1;
 }
 
@@ -859,7 +873,17 @@
       PT->finder = listed_nextpid;
     }else{
       PT->procfs = opendir("/proc");
-      if(!PT->procfs) return NULL;
+      if(!PT->procfs) {
+        FILE *fp;
+        char maxpid[32];
+        if ((fp = fopen("/proc/sys/kernel/pid_max", "r")) > 0) {
+          fread(maxpid,sizeof(maxpid),1,fp);
+          max_pid = atoi(maxpid);
+          fclose(fp);
+        }
+        else max_pid = 32768; /* assume it would be the case */
+        current_pid = 0; /* start at 0, first iteration will increment */
+      }
       PT->finder = simple_nextpid;
     }
     PT->flags = flags;