diff --git a/app/actions.cpp b/app/actions.cpp
index 6175a982..d8c91ddd 100644
--- a/app/actions.cpp
+++ b/app/actions.cpp
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ namespace Action {
 
     int Print::printSummary()
     {
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_)) {
             std::cerr << path_ << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
         }
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ namespace Action {
 
     int Print::printList()
     {
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_)) {
             std::cerr << path_ << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
         }
@@ -607,7 +607,7 @@ namespace Action {
 
     int Print::printComment()
     {
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_)) {
             std::cerr << path_ << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
         }
@@ -624,7 +624,7 @@ namespace Action {
 
     int Print::printPreviewList()
     {
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_)) {
             std::cerr << path_ << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
         }
@@ -658,7 +658,7 @@ namespace Action {
     int Rename::run(const std::string& path)
     {
     try {
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path)) {
             std::cerr << path << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
         }
@@ -740,7 +740,7 @@ namespace Action {
     try {
         path_ = path;
 
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_)) {
             std::cerr << path_ << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
         }
@@ -900,7 +900,7 @@ namespace Action {
 
     int Extract::writeThumbnail() const
     {
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_)) {
             std::cerr << path_ << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
         }
@@ -947,7 +947,7 @@ namespace Action {
 
     int Extract::writePreviews() const
     {
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_)) {
             std::cerr << path_ << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
         }
@@ -983,7 +983,7 @@ namespace Action {
     int Extract::writeIccProfile(const std::string& target) const
     {
         int rc = 0;
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path_)) {
             std::cerr << path_ << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             rc = -1;
         }
@@ -1049,7 +1049,7 @@ namespace Action {
         // -i{tgt}-  reading from stdin?
         bool bStdin = (Params::instance().target_ & Params::ctStdInOut) != 0;
 
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path)) {
             std::cerr << path
                       << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
@@ -1106,12 +1106,12 @@ namespace Action {
             Params::instance().getStdin(xmpBlob);
             rc   = insertXmpPacket(path,xmpBlob,true);
         } else {
-            if (!Exiv2::fileExists(xmpPath, true)) {
+            if (!Exiv2::fileExists(xmpPath)) {
                 std::cerr << xmpPath
                           << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
                 rc = -1;
             }
-            if (rc == 0 && !Exiv2::fileExists(path, true)) {
+            if (rc == 0 && !Exiv2::fileExists(path)) {
                 std::cerr << path
                           << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
                 rc = -1;
@@ -1152,7 +1152,7 @@ namespace Action {
             Params::instance().getStdin(iccProfile);
             rc =  insertIccProfile(path,std::move(iccProfile));
         } else {
-            if (!Exiv2::fileExists(iccProfilePath, true)) {
+            if (!Exiv2::fileExists(iccProfilePath)) {
                 std::cerr << iccProfilePath
                           << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
                 rc = -1;
@@ -1168,7 +1168,7 @@ namespace Action {
     {
         int rc = 0;
         // test path exists
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path)) {
             std::cerr << path << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             rc=-1;
         }
@@ -1192,12 +1192,12 @@ namespace Action {
     int Insert::insertThumbnail(const std::string& path)
     {
         std::string thumbPath = newFilePath(path, "-thumb.jpg");
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(thumbPath, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(thumbPath)) {
             std::cerr << thumbPath
                       << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
         }
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path)) {
             std::cerr << path
                       << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
@@ -1220,7 +1220,7 @@ namespace Action {
     int Modify::run(const std::string& path)
     {
     try {
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path)) {
             std::cerr << path << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
         }
@@ -1452,7 +1452,7 @@ namespace Action {
         monthAdjustment_ = Params::instance().yodAdjust_[Params::yodMonth].adjustment_;
         dayAdjustment_   = Params::instance().yodAdjust_[Params::yodDay].adjustment_;
 
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path)) {
             std::cerr << path << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
         }
@@ -1579,7 +1579,7 @@ namespace Action {
     int FixIso::run(const std::string& path)
     {
     try {
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path)) {
             std::cerr << path << ": " <<_("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
         }
@@ -1632,7 +1632,7 @@ namespace Action {
     int FixCom::run(const std::string& path)
     {
     try {
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path)) {
             std::cerr << path << ": " <<_("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
         }
@@ -1821,7 +1821,7 @@ namespace {
 
         // read the source metadata
         int  rc    = -1   ;
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(source, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(source)) {
             std::cerr << source << ": " << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return rc;
         }
@@ -2096,7 +2096,7 @@ namespace {
 
     int printStructure(std::ostream& out, Exiv2::PrintStructureOption option, const std::string &path)
     {
-        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path, true)) {
+        if (!Exiv2::fileExists(path)) {
             std::cerr << path << ": "
                       << _("Failed to open the file\n");
             return -1;
diff --git a/include/exiv2/futils.hpp b/include/exiv2/futils.hpp
index bcf88aa3..cebb19ac 100644
--- a/include/exiv2/futils.hpp
+++ b/include/exiv2/futils.hpp
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ namespace Exiv2
       and its type, see stat(2). <b>errno</b> is left unchanged
       in case of an error.
      */
-    EXIV2API bool fileExists(const std::string& path, bool ct = false);
+    EXIV2API bool fileExists(const std::string& path);
 
     /*!
       @brief Get the path of file URL.
diff --git a/src/futils.cpp b/src/futils.cpp
index be1f3e91..ccceaedd 100644
--- a/src/futils.cpp
+++ b/src/futils.cpp
@@ -27,19 +27,23 @@
 #include "image_int.hpp"
 
 // + standard includes
-#include <sys/types.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
-#include <array>
-#include <cstdio>
-#include <cerrno>
-#include <sstream>
-#include <cstring>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+
 #include <algorithm>
+#include <array>
+#include <cerrno>
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <cstring>
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <sstream>
 #include <stdexcept>
-#ifdef   EXV_HAVE_UNISTD_H
-#include <unistd.h>                     // for stat()
+#ifdef EXV_HAVE_UNISTD_H
+#include <unistd.h>  // for stat()
 #endif
 
+namespace fs = std::filesystem;
+
 #if defined(WIN32)
 #include <windows.h>
 #include <psapi.h>  // For access to GetModuleFileNameEx
@@ -243,19 +247,13 @@ namespace Exiv2 {
         return result;
     } // fileProtocol
 
-    bool fileExists(const std::string& path, bool ct)
+    bool fileExists(const std::string& path)
     {
-        // special case: accept "-" (means stdin)
-        if (path == "-" || fileProtocol(path) != pFile) {
+        if (fileProtocol(path) != pFile) {
             return true;
         }
-
-        struct stat buf;
-        int ret = ::stat(path.c_str(), &buf);
-        if (0 != ret)                    return false;
-        if (ct && !S_ISREG(buf.st_mode)) return false;
-        return true;
-    } // fileExists
+        return fs::exists(path);
+    }
 
     std::string pathOfFileUrl(const std::string& url) {
         std::string path = url.substr(7);
diff --git a/src/version.cpp b/src/version.cpp
index d1982caf..5576a0a8 100644
--- a/src/version.cpp
+++ b/src/version.cpp
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ static void output(std::ostream& os,const std::vector<std::regex>& greps,const c
 
 static bool pushPath(std::string& path,std::vector<std::string>& libs,std::set<std::string>& paths)
 {
-    bool result = Exiv2::fileExists(path,true) && paths.find(path) == paths.end() && path != "/" ;
+    bool result = Exiv2::fileExists(path) && paths.find(path) == paths.end() && path != "/" ;
     if ( result ) {
         paths.insert(path);
         libs.push_back(path);
diff --git a/test/data/template.exv b/test/data/template.exv
index 91633251..8ec5db04 100644
Binary files a/test/data/template.exv and b/test/data/template.exv differ