diff --git a/mfer/checker.go b/mfer/checker.go
index 2e47d3a..0abf0b4 100644
--- a/mfer/checker.go
+++ b/mfer/checker.go
@@ -224,12 +224,7 @@ func (c *Checker) checkFile(entry *MFFilePath, checkedBytes *FileSize) Result {
 	// Check if file exists
 	info, err := c.fs.Stat(absPath)
 	if err != nil {
-		if errors.Is(err, afero.ErrFileNotFound) || errors.Is(err, errors.New("file does not exist")) {
-			return Result{Path: relPath, Status: StatusMissing, Message: "file not found"}
-		}
-		// Check for "file does not exist" style errors
-		exists, _ := afero.Exists(c.fs, absPath)
-		if !exists {
+		if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) || errors.Is(err, afero.ErrFileNotFound) {
 			return Result{Path: relPath, Status: StatusMissing, Message: "file not found"}
 		}
 		return Result{Path: relPath, Status: StatusError, Message: err.Error()}
diff --git a/mfer/checker_test.go b/mfer/checker_test.go
index 2313bb8..44a9ac0 100644
--- a/mfer/checker_test.go
+++ b/mfer/checker_test.go
@@ -381,6 +381,39 @@ func TestCheckSubdirectories(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, 3, okCount)
 }
 
+func TestCheckMissingFileDetectedWithoutFallback(t *testing.T) {
+	// Regression test: errors.Is(err, errors.New("...")) never matches because
+	// errors.New creates a new value each time. The fix uses os.ErrNotExist instead.
+	fs := afero.NewMemMapFs()
+	files := map[string][]byte{
+		"exists.txt":  []byte("here"),
+		"missing.txt": []byte("not on disk"),
+	}
+	createTestManifest(t, fs, "/manifest.mf", files)
+	// Only create one file on disk
+	createFilesOnDisk(t, fs, "/data", map[string][]byte{
+		"exists.txt": []byte("here"),
+	})
+
+	chk, err := NewChecker("/manifest.mf", "/data", fs)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	results := make(chan Result, 10)
+	err = chk.Check(context.Background(), results, nil)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	statusCounts := map[Status]int{}
+	for r := range results {
+		statusCounts[r.Status]++
+		if r.Status == StatusMissing {
+			assert.Equal(t, RelFilePath("missing.txt"), r.Path)
+		}
+	}
+	assert.Equal(t, 1, statusCounts[StatusOK], "one file should be OK")
+	assert.Equal(t, 1, statusCounts[StatusMissing], "one file should be MISSING")
+	assert.Equal(t, 0, statusCounts[StatusError], "no files should be ERROR")
+}
+
 func TestCheckEmptyManifest(t *testing.T) {
 	fs := afero.NewMemMapFs()
 	// Create manifest with no files