diff --git a/utils/file.utils.ts b/utils/file.utils.ts
index f25f177..6cb1f65 100644
--- a/utils/file.utils.ts
+++ b/utils/file.utils.ts
@@ -67,6 +67,15 @@ export const explodePath = (filePath: string): IExplodedPathResponse => {
 	};
 };
 
+// returns a promise which resolves true if file exists:
+export const checkFileExists = (filepath) => {
+	return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+	  fs.access(filepath, fs.constants.F_OK, error => {
+		resolve(!error);
+	  });
+	});
+  }
+
 export const getSizeOfDirectory = async (
 	directoryPath: string,
 	extensions: string[]
diff --git a/utils/uncompression.utils.ts b/utils/uncompression.utils.ts
index c6a3a67..fd3ee24 100644
--- a/utils/uncompression.utils.ts
+++ b/utils/uncompression.utils.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ import path, { parse } from "path";
 import * as p7zip from "p7zip-threetwo";
 import { IExtractedComicBookCoverFile } from "threetwo-ui-typings";
 import sharp from "sharp";
-import { getFileConstituents } from "../utils/file.utils";
+import { getFileConstituents, checkFileExists } from "../utils/file.utils";
 import { flatten, isEmpty, isNil, isUndefined, remove } from "lodash";
 import { convertXMLToJSON } from "./xml.utils";
 import { USERDATA_DIRECTORY, COMICS_DIRECTORY } from "../constants/directories";
@@ -153,7 +153,8 @@ export const extractComicInfoXMLFromRar = async (
 			if (err) {
 				reject(err);
 			}
-			if (existsSync(`${targetDirectory}/${coverFile}`)) {
+			checkFileExists(`${targetDirectory}/${coverFile}`).then((bool) => {
+				console.log(`${coverFile} exists: ${bool}`);
 				// orchestrate result
 				resolve({
 					filePath,
@@ -167,7 +168,7 @@ export const extractComicInfoXMLFromRar = async (
 						),
 					},
 				});
-			}
+			});
 		});
 	});