diff --git a/pkg/csconfig/api.go b/pkg/csconfig/api.go
index 07b8d154c..34ccb1418 100644
--- a/pkg/csconfig/api.go
+++ b/pkg/csconfig/api.go
@@ -356,10 +356,6 @@ func (s *LocalApiServerCfg) LoadCapiWhitelists() error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	if _, err := os.Stat(s.CapiWhitelistsPath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
-		return fmt.Errorf("capi whitelist file '%s' does not exist", s.CapiWhitelistsPath)
-	}
-
 	fd, err := os.Open(s.CapiWhitelistsPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("while opening capi whitelist file: %s", err)
diff --git a/test/bats/13_capi_whitelists.bats b/test/bats/13_capi_whitelists.bats
index 61d0e641c..d05a9d932 100644
--- a/test/bats/13_capi_whitelists.bats
+++ b/test/bats/13_capi_whitelists.bats
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ teardown() {
 
 @test "capi_whitelists: file missing" {
     rune -0 wait-for \
-        --err "capi whitelist file '$CAPI_WHITELISTS_YAML' does not exist" \
+        --err "while opening capi whitelist file: open $CAPI_WHITELISTS_YAML: no such file or directory" \
         "${CROWDSEC}"
 }