diff --git a/src/core/desktopfile/desktopfile.cpp b/src/core/desktopfile/desktopfile.cpp
index f40262b..d485d12 100644
--- a/src/core/desktopfile/desktopfile.cpp
+++ b/src/core/desktopfile/desktopfile.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 // local headers
+#include "linuxdeploy/core/desktopfile/exceptions.h"
 #include "linuxdeploy/core/desktopfile/desktopfile.h"
 #include "linuxdeploy/core/log.h"
 #include "desktopfilereader.h"
@@ -34,10 +35,15 @@ namespace linuxdeploy {
             DesktopFile::DesktopFile() : d(std::make_shared<PrivateData>()) {}
 
             DesktopFile::DesktopFile(const bf::path& path) : DesktopFile() {
-                if (bf::exists(path)) {
-                    // will throw exceptions in case of issues
-                    read(path);
+                // if the file doesn't exist, an exception shall be thrown
+                // otherwise, a user cannot know for sure whether a file was actually read (would need to check this
+                // manually beforehand
+                if (!bf::exists(path)) {
+                    throw IOError("Could not find file " + path.string());
                 }
+
+                // will throw exceptions in case of issues
+                read(path);
             };
 
             DesktopFile::DesktopFile(std::istream& is) : DesktopFile() {
diff --git a/tests/core/desktopfile/test_desktopfile.cpp b/tests/core/desktopfile/test_desktopfile.cpp
index 01d4491..a49f493 100644
--- a/tests/core/desktopfile/test_desktopfile.cpp
+++ b/tests/core/desktopfile/test_desktopfile.cpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 // local headers
 #include "linuxdeploy/core/desktopfile/desktopfile.h"
+#include "linuxdeploy/core/desktopfile/exceptions.h"
 #include "../../src/core/desktopfile/desktopfilereader.h"
 
 using boost::bad_lexical_cast;
@@ -66,8 +67,7 @@ TEST_F(DesktopFileFixture, testDefaultConstructor) {
 }
 
 TEST_F(DesktopFileFixture, testPathConstructor) {
-    DesktopFile nonExistingPath("/a/b/c/d/e/f/g/h/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8");
-    EXPECT_TRUE(nonExistingPath.isEmpty());
+    ASSERT_THROW(DesktopFile nonExistingPath("/a/b/c/d/e/f/g/h/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8"), IOError);
 
     DesktopFile emptyFile("/dev/null");
     EXPECT_TRUE(emptyFile.isEmpty());