diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index 1ca41b1a69..bf204b9210 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -1374,16 +1374,22 @@ static int verify_absent_1(struct cache_entry *ce,
 		char path[PATH_MAX + 1];
 		memcpy(path, ce->name, len);
 		path[len] = 0;
-		lstat(path, &st);
+		if (lstat(path, &st))
+			return error("cannot stat '%s': %s", path,
+					strerror(errno));
 
 		return check_ok_to_remove(path, len, DT_UNKNOWN, NULL, &st,
 				error_type, o);
-	} else if (!lstat(ce->name, &st))
+	} else if (lstat(ce->name, &st)) {
+		if (errno != ENOENT)
+			return error("cannot stat '%s': %s", ce->name,
+				     strerror(errno));
+		return 0;
+	} else {
 		return check_ok_to_remove(ce->name, ce_namelen(ce),
-				ce_to_dtype(ce), ce, &st,
-				error_type, o);
-
-	return 0;
+					  ce_to_dtype(ce), ce, &st,
+					  error_type, o);
+	}
 }
 
 static int verify_absent(struct cache_entry *ce,