diff --git a/lib/path.cpp b/lib/path.cpp
index 0ada0733cbaf..dc521fddd5ca 100644
--- a/lib/path.cpp
+++ b/lib/path.cpp
@@ -370,11 +370,12 @@ std::string Path::getAbsoluteFilePath(const std::string& filePath)
 #elif defined(__linux__) || defined(__sun) || defined(__hpux) || defined(__GNUC__) || defined(__CPPCHECK__)
     // simplify the path since any non-existent part has to exist even if discarded by ".."
     std::string spath = Path::simplifyPath(filePath);
-    // TODO: assert if path exists?
     char * absolute = realpath(spath.c_str(), nullptr);
     if (absolute)
         absolute_path = absolute;
     free(absolute);
+    if (!filePath.empty() && !spath.empty() && absolute_path.empty() && !exists(spath))
+        throw std::runtime_error("path '" + filePath + "' does not exist");
 #else
 #error Platform absolute path function needed
 #endif
@@ -418,6 +419,12 @@ bool Path::isDirectory(const std::string &path)
     return file_type(path) == S_IFDIR;
 }
 
+bool Path::exists(const std::string &path)
+{
+    const auto type = file_type(path);
+    return type == S_IFREG || type == S_IFDIR;
+}
+
 std::string Path::join(const std::string& path1, const std::string& path2) {
     if (path1.empty() || path2.empty())
         return path1 + path2;
diff --git a/lib/path.h b/lib/path.h
index f3dd870af709..fda36c01f85a 100644
--- a/lib/path.h
+++ b/lib/path.h
@@ -190,6 +190,13 @@ class CPPCHECKLIB Path {
      */
     static bool isDirectory(const std::string &path);
 
+    /**
+     * @brief Checks if a given path exists (i.e. is a file or directory)
+     * @param path Path to be checked
+     * @return true if given path exists
+     */
+    static bool exists(const std::string &path);
+
     /**
      * join 2 paths with '/' separators
      */
diff --git a/test/testpath.cpp b/test/testpath.cpp
index 69608af75433..a91c8a0bf52b 100644
--- a/test/testpath.cpp
+++ b/test/testpath.cpp
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ class TestPath : public TestFixture {
 
 #ifndef _WIN32
         // the underlying realpath() call only returns something if the path actually exists
-        ASSERT_EQUALS("", Path::getAbsoluteFilePath("testabspath2.txt"));
+        ASSERT_THROW_EQUALS_2(Path::getAbsoluteFilePath("testabspath2.txt"), std::runtime_error, "path 'testabspath2.txt' does not exist");
 #else
         ASSERT_EQUALS(Path::toNativeSeparators(Path::join(cwd, "testabspath2.txt")), Path::getAbsoluteFilePath("testabspath2.txt"));
 #endif