diff --git a/tests/check-file-access.pl b/tests/check-file-access.pl
index 977a2bc533..ea0b7a18a2 100755
--- a/tests/check-file-access.pl
+++ b/tests/check-file-access.pl
@@ -27,18 +27,21 @@ use warnings;
 my $access_file = "test_file_access.txt";
 my $whitelist_file = "file_access_whitelist.txt";
 
+my @known_actions = ("open", "fopen", "access", "stat", "lstat", "connect");
+
 my @files;
 my @whitelist;
 
 open FILE, "<", $access_file or die "Unable to open $access_file: $!";
 while (<FILE>) {
     chomp;
-    if (/^(\S*):\s*(\S*)(\s*:\s*(.*))?$/) {
+    if (/^(\S*):\s*(\S*):\s*(\S*)(\s*:\s*(.*))?$/) {
         my %rec;
         ${rec}{path} = $1;
-        ${rec}{progname} = $2;
-        if (defined $4) {
-            ${rec}{testname} = $4;
+        ${rec}{action} = $2;
+        ${rec}{progname} = $3;
+        if (defined $5) {
+            ${rec}{testname} = $5;
         }
         push (@files, \%rec);
     } else {
@@ -52,7 +55,21 @@ while (<FILE>) {
     chomp;
     if (/^\s*#.*$/) {
         # comment
+    } elsif (/^(\S*):\s*(\S*)(:\s*(\S*)(\s*:\s*(.*))?)?$/ and
+            grep /^$2$/, @known_actions) {
+        # $path: $action: $progname: $testname
+        my %rec;
+        ${rec}{path} = $1;
+        ${rec}{action} = $3;
+        if (defined $4) {
+            ${rec}{progname} = $4;
+        }
+        if (defined $6) {
+            ${rec}{testname} = $6;
+        }
+        push (@whitelist, \%rec);
     } elsif (/^(\S*)(:\s*(\S*)(\s*:\s*(.*))?)?$/) {
+        # $path: $progname: $testname
         my %rec;
         ${rec}{path} = $1;
         if (defined $3) {
@@ -79,6 +96,11 @@ for my $file (@files) {
             next;
         }
 
+        if (defined %${rule}{action} and
+            not %${file}{action} =~ m/^$rule->{action}$/) {
+            next;
+        }
+
         if (defined %${rule}{progname} and
             not %${file}{progname} =~ m/^$rule->{progname}$/) {
             next;
@@ -95,7 +117,7 @@ for my $file (@files) {
 
     if (not $match) {
         $error = 1;
-        print "$file->{path}: $file->{progname}";
+        print "$file->{path}: $file->{action}: $file->{progname}";
         print ": $file->{testname}" if defined %${file}{testname};
         print "\n";
     }
diff --git a/tests/file_access_whitelist.txt b/tests/file_access_whitelist.txt
index 850b28506e..3fb318cbab 100644
--- a/tests/file_access_whitelist.txt
+++ b/tests/file_access_whitelist.txt
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
 # This is a whitelist that allows accesses to files not in our
 # build directory nor source directory. The records are in the
-# following format:
+# following formats:
 #
 #  $path: $progname: $testname
+#  $path: $action: $progname: $testname
 #
-# All these three are evaluated as perl RE. So to allow /dev/sda
-# and /dev/sdb, you can just '/dev/sd[a-b]', or to allow
+# All these variables are evaluated as perl RE. So to allow
+# /dev/sda and /dev/sdb, you can just '/dev/sd[a-b]', or to allow
 # /proc/$pid/status you can '/proc/\d+/status' and so on.
-# Moreover, $progname and $testname can be empty, in which which
-# case $path is allowed for all tests.
+# Moreover, $action, $progname and $testname can be empty, in which
+# which case $path is allowed for all tests. However, $action (if
+# specified) must be one of "open", "fopen", "access", "stat",
+# "lstat", "connect".
 
 /bin/cat: sysinfotest
 /bin/dirname: sysinfotest: x86 sysinfo
@@ -19,5 +22,7 @@
 /etc/hosts
 /proc/\d+/status
 
+/etc/passwd: fopen
+
 # This is just a dummy example, DO NOT USE IT LIKE THAT!
 .*: nonexistent-test-touching-everything