diff --git a/utils/files/remoteFiles.js b/utils/files/remoteFiles.js
index 85c531f63..6863c58e9 100644
--- a/utils/files/remoteFiles.js
+++ b/utils/files/remoteFiles.js
@@ -229,7 +229,9 @@ const remoteFiles = {
   },
   // Check if a local directory is a git-annex repo
   isGitAnnex: function(path) {
-    return fs.existsSync(path + '/.git/annex')
+    if (typeof window === 'undefined')
+      return fs.existsSync(path + '/.git/annex')
+    return false
   },
 }
 
diff --git a/utils/files/validateMisc.js b/utils/files/validateMisc.js
index c7df45f69..e76ea247b 100644
--- a/utils/files/validateMisc.js
+++ b/utils/files/validateMisc.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-const testFile = require('./testFile')
+const readFile = require('./readFile')
 const Issue = require('../issues/issue')
 
 /**
@@ -6,24 +6,14 @@ const Issue = require('../issues/issue')
  *
  * takes a list of files and returns an issue for each file
  */
-module.exports = function validateMisc(miscFiles) {
-  const issuePromises = miscFiles.reduce(
-    (issues, file) => [...issues, testFile(file)],
-    [],
-  )
-  return Promise.all(issuePromises).then(res =>
-    res
-      // extract issue
-      .map(obj => obj.issue)
-      // remove non-issues
-      .filter(o => o instanceof Issue),
-  )
-}
 module.exports = function validateMisc(miscFiles) {
   const issuePromises = miscFiles.reduce(
     (issues, file) => [
       ...issues,
-      new Promise(resolve => testFile(file, false, null, resolve)),
+      readFile(file, false, null).catch(err => {
+        if (err instanceof Issue) return err
+        throw err
+      }),
     ],
     [],
   )
diff --git a/utils/issues/list.js b/utils/issues/list.js
index 1c9fc41f5..6c8b9ea14 100644
--- a/utils/issues/list.js
+++ b/utils/issues/list.js
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ module.exports = {
     key: 'FILE_READ',
     severity: 'error',
     reason:
-      'We were unable to read this file. Make sure it is not corrupted, incorrectly named or incorrectly symlinked.',
+      'We were unable to read this file. Make sure it contains data (fileSize > 0 kB) and is not corrupted, incorrectly named, or incorrectly symlinked.',
   },
   45: {
     key: 'SUBJECT_FOLDERS',