diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3a2dc0cc0..8fa900e16 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # **Upcoming release**
 
-- Remove site-packages from packages search tree (@tkrabel)
+- #733 skip directories with perm error when building autoimport index (@MrBago)
+- #722, #723 Remove site-packages from packages search tree (@tkrabel)
 
 # Release 1.11.0
 
diff --git a/rope/contrib/autoimport/sqlite.py b/rope/contrib/autoimport/sqlite.py
index f02d426ba..1755f2f2b 100644
--- a/rope/contrib/autoimport/sqlite.py
+++ b/rope/contrib/autoimport/sqlite.py
@@ -546,13 +546,23 @@ def filter_folders(folder: Path) -> bool:
         folder_paths = filter(filter_folders, folder_paths)  # type:ignore
         return list(OrderedDict.fromkeys(folder_paths))
 
+    def _safe_iterdir(self, folder: Path):
+        dirs = folder.iterdir()
+        while True:
+            try:
+                yield next(dirs)
+            except PermissionError:
+                pass
+            except StopIteration:
+                break
+
     def _get_available_packages(self) -> List[Package]:
         packages: List[Package] = [
             Package(module, Source.BUILTIN, None, PackageType.BUILTIN)
             for module in sys.builtin_module_names
         ]
         for folder in self._get_python_folders():
-            for package in folder.iterdir():
+            for package in self._safe_iterdir(folder):
                 package_tuple = get_package_tuple(package, self.project)
                 if package_tuple is None:
                     continue
@@ -602,7 +612,7 @@ def _find_package_path(self, target_name: str) -> Optional[Package]:
         if target_name in sys.builtin_module_names:
             return Package(target_name, Source.BUILTIN, None, PackageType.BUILTIN)
         for folder in self._get_python_folders():
-            for package in folder.iterdir():
+            for package in self._safe_iterdir(folder):
                 package_tuple = get_package_tuple(package, self.project)
                 if package_tuple is None:
                     continue
diff --git a/ropetest/contrib/autoimporttest.py b/ropetest/contrib/autoimporttest.py
index 62b6db293..94bb033bb 100644
--- a/ropetest/contrib/autoimporttest.py
+++ b/ropetest/contrib/autoimporttest.py
@@ -134,13 +134,28 @@ def test_search(self):
         self.assertIn(import_statement, self.importer.search("D"))
 
     def test_generate_full_cache(self):
-        """The single thread test takes much longer than the multithread test but is easier to debug"""
+        # The single thread test takes much longer than the multithread test but is easier to debug
         single_thread = False
         self.importer.generate_modules_cache(single_thread=single_thread)
         self.assertIn(("from typing import Dict", "Dict"), self.importer.search("Dict"))
-        self.assertTrue(len(self.importer._dump_all()) > 0)
+        self.assertGreater(len(self.importer._dump_all()), 0)
         for table in self.importer._dump_all():
-            self.assertTrue(len(table) > 0)
+            self.assertGreater(len(table), 0)
+
+    def test_skipping_directories_not_accessible_because_of_permission_error(self):
+        # The single thread test takes much longer than the multithread test but is easier to debug
+        single_thread = False
+        self.importer.generate_modules_cache(single_thread=single_thread)
+        
+        # Create a temporary directory and set permissions to 000
+        import tempfile, sys
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as dir:
+            import os
+            os.chmod(dir, 0o000)
+            self.importer.project.prefs.python_path = [dir]
+            self.importer.generate_modules_cache(single_thread=single_thread)
+        self.assertIn(("from typing import Dict", "Dict"), self.importer.search("Dict"))
+        self.assertGreater(len(self.importer._dump_all()), 0)
 
 
 class AutoImportObservingTest(unittest.TestCase):