--- a/src/core/ngx_open_file_cache.c
+++ b/src/core/ngx_open_file_cache.c
@@ -490,7 +490,14 @@ ngx_open_and_stat_file(u_char *name, ngx
     }
 
     if (!of->log) {
-        fd = ngx_open_file(name, NGX_FILE_RDONLY, NGX_FILE_OPEN, 0);
+
+        /*
+         * Use non-blocking open() not to hang on FIFO files, etc.
+         * This flag has no effect on a regular files.
+         */
+
+        fd = ngx_open_file(name, NGX_FILE_RDONLY|NGX_FILE_NONBLOCK,
+                           NGX_FILE_OPEN, 0);
 
     } else {
         fd = ngx_open_file(name, NGX_FILE_APPEND, NGX_FILE_CREATE_OR_OPEN,