diff --git a/src/basic/chase.c b/src/basic/chase.c
index 3a929498bf..68bb9816ce 100644
--- a/src/basic/chase.c
+++ b/src/basic/chase.c
@@ -509,16 +509,18 @@ int chaseat(int dir_fd, const char *path, ChaseFlags flags, char **ret_path, int
                 close_and_replace(fd, child);
         }
 
-        if (FLAGS_SET(flags, CHASE_MUST_BE_DIRECTORY)) {
-                r = stat_verify_directory(&st);
-                if (r < 0)
-                        return r;
-        }
+        if (exists) {
+                if (FLAGS_SET(flags, CHASE_MUST_BE_DIRECTORY)) {
+                        r = stat_verify_directory(&st);
+                        if (r < 0)
+                                return r;
+                }
 
-        if (FLAGS_SET(flags, CHASE_MUST_BE_REGULAR)) {
-                r = stat_verify_regular(&st);
-                if (r < 0)
-                        return r;
+                if (FLAGS_SET(flags, CHASE_MUST_BE_REGULAR)) {
+                        r = stat_verify_regular(&st);
+                        if (r < 0)
+                                return r;
+                }
         }
 
         if (ret_path) {
diff --git a/src/basic/conf-files.c b/src/basic/conf-files.c
index b1b0c74637..c00325f2e4 100644
--- a/src/basic/conf-files.c
+++ b/src/basic/conf-files.c
@@ -145,7 +145,9 @@ int conf_file_new_at(const char *path, int rfd, ChaseFlags chase_flags, ConfFile
                 return log_debug_errno(r, "Failed to extract directory from '%s': %m", path);
         if (r >= 0) {
                 r = chaseat(rfd, dirpath,
-                            CHASE_AT_RESOLVE_IN_ROOT | (FLAGS_SET(chase_flags, CHASE_NONEXISTENT) ? CHASE_NONEXISTENT : CHASE_MUST_BE_DIRECTORY),
+                            CHASE_AT_RESOLVE_IN_ROOT |
+                            CHASE_MUST_BE_DIRECTORY |
+                            (FLAGS_SET(chase_flags, CHASE_NONEXISTENT) ? CHASE_NONEXISTENT : 0),
                             &resolved_dirpath, /* ret_fd = */ NULL);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return log_debug_errno(r, "Failed to chase '%s%s': %m", empty_to_root(root), skip_leading_slash(dirpath));