diff --git a/pkg/api/handlers/compat/containers_create.go b/pkg/api/handlers/compat/containers_create.go
index d6ef33dac6..cef33d37dd 100644
--- a/pkg/api/handlers/compat/containers_create.go
+++ b/pkg/api/handlers/compat/containers_create.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/specgen"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/specgenutil"
 	"github.com/containers/storage"
+	"github.com/containers/storage/pkg/fileutils"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types/mount"
 )
 
@@ -527,7 +528,7 @@ func cliOpts(cc handlers.CreateContainerConfig, rtc *config.Config) (*entities.C
 			continue
 		}
 		// If volume already exists, there is nothing to do
-		if _, err := os.Stat(vol); err == nil {
+		if err := fileutils.Exists(vol); err == nil {
 			continue
 		}
 		if err := os.MkdirAll(vol, 0o755); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/api/handlers/compat/images_build.go b/pkg/api/handlers/compat/images_build.go
index 8fd2dd6668..207686c05c 100644
--- a/pkg/api/handlers/compat/images_build.go
+++ b/pkg/api/handlers/compat/images_build.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/rootless"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/util"
 	"github.com/containers/storage/pkg/archive"
+	"github.com/containers/storage/pkg/fileutils"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/pkg/jsonmessage"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -248,9 +249,9 @@ func BuildImage(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		containerFiles = []string{filepath.Join(contextDirectory, "Dockerfile")}
 		if utils.IsLibpodRequest(r) {
 			containerFiles = []string{filepath.Join(contextDirectory, "Containerfile")}
-			if _, err = os.Stat(containerFiles[0]); err != nil {
+			if err = fileutils.Exists(containerFiles[0]); err != nil {
 				containerFiles = []string{filepath.Join(contextDirectory, "Dockerfile")}
-				if _, err1 := os.Stat(containerFiles[0]); err1 != nil {
+				if err1 := fileutils.Exists(containerFiles[0]); err1 != nil {
 					utils.BadRequest(w, "dockerfile", query.Dockerfile, err)
 					return
 				}
diff --git a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/swagger_spec.go b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/swagger_spec.go
index 3686c8c9fc..3ba2cb4d35 100644
--- a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/swagger_spec.go
+++ b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/swagger_spec.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/api/handlers/utils"
+	"github.com/containers/storage/pkg/fileutils"
 )
 
 // DefaultPodmanSwaggerSpec provides the default path to the podman swagger spec file
@@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ func ServeSwagger(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	if p, found := os.LookupEnv("PODMAN_SWAGGER_SPEC"); found {
 		path = p
 	}
-	if _, err := os.Stat(path); err != nil {
+	if err := fileutils.Exists(path); err != nil {
 		if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
 			utils.InternalServerError(w, fmt.Errorf("swagger spec %q does not exist", path))
 			return