diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/config_linux.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/config_linux.go
index 625879423d..ddca2b151c 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/config_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/config_linux.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/libpod/define"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/rootless"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/util"
+	"github.com/containers/storage/pkg/fileutils"
 
 	spec "github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runtime-tools/generate"
@@ -133,7 +134,7 @@ func addDevice(g *generate.Generator, device string) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("%s is not a valid device: %w", src, err)
 	}
 	if rootless.IsRootless() {
-		if _, err := os.Stat(src); err != nil {
+		if err := fileutils.Exists(src); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		perm := "ro"
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/kube/volume.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/kube/volume.go
index 7229b24715..f17ba962af 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/kube/volume.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/kube/volume.go
@@ -5,12 +5,14 @@ package kube
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"io/fs"
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/containers/common/pkg/parse"
 	"github.com/containers/common/pkg/secrets"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/libpod"
 	v1 "github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	"github.com/containers/storage/pkg/fileutils"
 
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
@@ -69,7 +71,7 @@ func VolumeFromHostPath(hostPath *v1.HostPathVolumeSource, mountLabel string) (*
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("giving %s a label: %w", hostPath.Path, err)
 			}
 		case v1.HostPathFileOrCreate:
-			if _, err := os.Stat(hostPath.Path); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			if err := fileutils.Exists(hostPath.Path); errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
 				f, err := os.OpenFile(hostPath.Path, os.O_RDONLY|os.O_CREATE, kubeFilePermission)
 				if err != nil {
 					return nil, fmt.Errorf("creating HostPath: %w", err)
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/namespaces_linux.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/namespaces_linux.go
index fb22b12b18..2c304f7b1b 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/namespaces_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/namespaces_linux.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/libpod"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/libpod/define"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/specgen"
+	"github.com/containers/storage/pkg/fileutils"
 	spec "github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runtime-tools/generate"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ func specConfigureNamespaces(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, g *generate.Generator, rt
 	// PID
 	switch s.PidNS.NSMode {
 	case specgen.Path:
-		if _, err := os.Stat(s.PidNS.Value); err != nil {
+		if err := fileutils.Exists(s.PidNS.Value); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("cannot find specified PID namespace path: %w", err)
 		}
 		if err := g.AddOrReplaceLinuxNamespace(string(spec.PIDNamespace), s.PidNS.Value); err != nil {
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ func specConfigureNamespaces(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, g *generate.Generator, rt
 	// IPC
 	switch s.IpcNS.NSMode {
 	case specgen.Path:
-		if _, err := os.Stat(s.IpcNS.Value); err != nil {
+		if err := fileutils.Exists(s.IpcNS.Value); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("cannot find specified IPC namespace path: %w", err)
 		}
 		if err := g.AddOrReplaceLinuxNamespace(string(spec.IPCNamespace), s.IpcNS.Value); err != nil {
@@ -56,7 +57,7 @@ func specConfigureNamespaces(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, g *generate.Generator, rt
 	// UTS
 	switch s.UtsNS.NSMode {
 	case specgen.Path:
-		if _, err := os.Stat(s.UtsNS.Value); err != nil {
+		if err := fileutils.Exists(s.UtsNS.Value); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("cannot find specified UTS namespace path: %w", err)
 		}
 		if err := g.AddOrReplaceLinuxNamespace(string(spec.UTSNamespace), s.UtsNS.Value); err != nil {
@@ -114,7 +115,7 @@ func specConfigureNamespaces(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, g *generate.Generator, rt
 	// Cgroup
 	switch s.CgroupNS.NSMode {
 	case specgen.Path:
-		if _, err := os.Stat(s.CgroupNS.Value); err != nil {
+		if err := fileutils.Exists(s.CgroupNS.Value); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("cannot find specified cgroup namespace path: %w", err)
 		}
 		if err := g.AddOrReplaceLinuxNamespace(string(spec.CgroupNamespace), s.CgroupNS.Value); err != nil {
@@ -133,7 +134,7 @@ func specConfigureNamespaces(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, g *generate.Generator, rt
 	// Net
 	switch s.NetNS.NSMode {
 	case specgen.Path:
-		if _, err := os.Stat(s.NetNS.Value); err != nil {
+		if err := fileutils.Exists(s.NetNS.Value); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("cannot find specified network namespace path: %w", err)
 		}
 		if err := g.AddOrReplaceLinuxNamespace(string(spec.NetworkNamespace), s.NetNS.Value); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/storage.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/storage.go
index 9ff8700cd5..7703e90815 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/storage.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/storage.go
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"os"
+	"io/fs"
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/libpod/define"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/specgen"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/util"
+	"github.com/containers/storage/pkg/fileutils"
 	spec "github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
@@ -391,7 +392,7 @@ func addContainerInitBinary(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, path string) (spec.Mount,
 	if s.Systemd == "always" {
 		return mount, errors.New("cannot use container-init binary with systemd=always")
 	}
-	if _, err := os.Stat(path); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+	if err := fileutils.Exists(path); errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
 		return mount, fmt.Errorf("container-init binary not found on the host: %w", err)
 	}
 	return mount, nil
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/validate_linux.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/validate_linux.go
index 25c249613a..3603b13757 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/validate_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/validate_linux.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containers/common/pkg/sysinfo"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/rootless"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/specgen"
+	"github.com/containers/storage/pkg/fileutils"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go"
 )
 
@@ -191,8 +192,8 @@ func verifyContainerResourcesCgroupV2(s *specgen.SpecGenerator) ([]string, error
 
 		memoryMax := filepath.Join("/sys/fs/cgroup", own, "memory.max")
 		memorySwapMax := filepath.Join("/sys/fs/cgroup", own, "memory.swap.max")
-		_, errMemoryMax := os.Stat(memoryMax)
-		_, errMemorySwapMax := os.Stat(memorySwapMax)
+		errMemoryMax := fileutils.Exists(memoryMax)
+		errMemorySwapMax := fileutils.Exists(memorySwapMax)
 		// Differently than cgroup v1, the memory.*max files are not present in the
 		// root directory, so we cannot query directly that, so as best effort use
 		// the current cgroup.
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/namespaces.go b/pkg/specgen/namespaces.go
index 4ff329922f..8d4179dcec 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/namespaces.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/namespaces.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
-	"os"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/containers/common/libnetwork/types"
@@ -13,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/rootless"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/util"
+	"github.com/containers/storage/pkg/fileutils"
 	storageTypes "github.com/containers/storage/types"
 	spec "github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runtime-tools/generate"
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ func SetupUserNS(idmappings *storageTypes.IDMappingOptions, userns Namespace, g
 	var user string
 	switch userns.NSMode {
 	case Path:
-		if _, err := os.Stat(userns.Value); err != nil {
+		if err := fileutils.Exists(userns.Value); err != nil {
 			return user, fmt.Errorf("cannot find specified user namespace path: %w", err)
 		}
 		if err := g.AddOrReplaceLinuxNamespace(string(spec.UserNamespace), userns.Value); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/winpath_linux.go b/pkg/specgen/winpath_linux.go
index 16c62492d2..f33b3002e3 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/winpath_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/winpath_linux.go
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 package specgen
 
 import (
-	"os"
-
 	"github.com/containers/common/pkg/machine"
+	"github.com/containers/storage/pkg/fileutils"
 )
 
 func shouldResolveWinPaths() bool {
@@ -11,8 +10,7 @@ func shouldResolveWinPaths() bool {
 }
 
 func shouldResolveUnixWinVariant(path string) bool {
-	_, err := os.Stat(path)
-	return err != nil
+	return fileutils.Exists(path) != nil
 }
 
 func resolveRelativeOnWindows(path string) string {
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/winpath_windows.go b/pkg/specgen/winpath_windows.go
index f85d40dd53..168e30062c 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/winpath_windows.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/winpath_windows.go
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 package specgen
 
 import (
-	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 
+	"github.com/containers/storage/pkg/fileutils"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
@@ -26,6 +26,5 @@ func resolveRelativeOnWindows(path string) string {
 }
 
 func winPathExists(path string) bool {
-	_, err := os.Stat(path)
-	return err == nil
+	return fileutils.Exists(path) == nil
 }
diff --git a/test/e2e/run_networking_test.go b/test/e2e/run_networking_test.go
index 4812202c08..0576a3aa87 100644
--- a/test/e2e/run_networking_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/run_networking_test.go
@@ -981,7 +981,7 @@ EXPOSE 2004-2005/tcp`, ALPINE)
 		session := podmanTest.Podman([]string{"run", "-dt", "--net", "ns:/run/netns/xxy", ALPINE, "wget", "www.redhat.com"})
 		session.Wait(90)
 		Expect(session).To(ExitWithError())
-		Expect(session.ErrorToString()).To(ContainSubstring("stat /run/netns/xxy: no such file or directory"))
+		Expect(session.ErrorToString()).To(ContainSubstring("faccessat /run/netns/xxy: no such file or directory"))
 	})
 
 	It("podman run in custom CNI network with --static-ip", func() {
diff --git a/test/system/160-volumes.bats b/test/system/160-volumes.bats
index 7a8fc11b37..ad64d71936 100644
--- a/test/system/160-volumes.bats
+++ b/test/system/160-volumes.bats
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ EOF
 
     myvolume=myvol$(random_string)
     run_podman 125 volume create -o type=bind -o device=/bogus $myvolume
-    is "$output" "Error: invalid volume option device for driver 'local': stat /bogus: no such file or directory" "should fail with bogus directory not existing"
+    is "$output" "Error: invalid volume option device for driver 'local': faccessat /bogus: no such file or directory" "should fail with bogus directory not existing"
 
     run_podman volume create -o type=bind -o device=/$myvoldir $myvolume
     is "$output" "$myvolume" "should successfully create myvolume"