diff --git a/met/src/basic/vx_log/file_fxns.cc b/met/src/basic/vx_log/file_fxns.cc
index 16a98ce261..49a5fec382 100644
--- a/met/src/basic/vx_log/file_fxns.cc
+++ b/met/src/basic/vx_log/file_fxns.cc
@@ -28,8 +28,7 @@ using namespace std;
 
 bool is_regular_file(const char *path) {
    struct stat path_stat;
-   stat(path, &path_stat);
-   return(S_ISREG(path_stat.st_mode));
+   return(!stat(path, &path_stat) && S_ISREG(path_stat.st_mode));
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////