diff --git a/aider/repo.py b/aider/repo.py
index 77df46988..54ad862e3 100644
--- a/aider/repo.py
+++ b/aider/repo.py
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ class GitRepo:
         if not self.aider_ignore_file or not self.aider_ignore_file.is_file():
             return fnames
 
-        mtime = self.aider_ignore_file.stat().st_mtime
+        mtime = Path(str(self.aider_ignore_file)).stat().st_mtime
         dump(mtime)
         if mtime != self.aider_ignore_ts:
             self.aider_ignore_ts = mtime
diff --git a/tests/test_repo.py b/tests/test_repo.py
index 8b5a0cb3a..243ce35c5 100644
--- a/tests/test_repo.py
+++ b/tests/test_repo.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import os
 import tempfile
-import time
 import unittest
 from pathlib import Path
 from unittest.mock import patch
@@ -203,9 +202,6 @@ class TestRepo(unittest.TestCase):
             self.assertIn(str(fname), fnames)
             self.assertIn(str(fname2), fnames)
 
-            # github actions don't seem to update the mtime?
-            time.sleep(1)
-
             aiderignore.write_text("new.txt\n")
 
             # new.txt should be gone!