diff --git a/src/bitcoind.cpp b/src/bitcoind.cpp
index 77367d6bb84..4037f6856d5 100644
--- a/src/bitcoind.cpp
+++ b/src/bitcoind.cpp
@@ -92,8 +92,7 @@ static bool AppInit(int argc, char* argv[])
 
     try
     {
-        if (!fs::is_directory(GetDataDir(false)))
-        {
+        if (!CheckDataDirOption()) {
             return InitError(strprintf("Specified data directory \"%s\" does not exist.\n", gArgs.GetArg("-datadir", "")));
         }
         if (!gArgs.ReadConfigFiles(error, true)) {
diff --git a/src/util/system.cpp b/src/util/system.cpp
index 520ed35504e..4d8aa9ed908 100644
--- a/src/util/system.cpp
+++ b/src/util/system.cpp
@@ -941,7 +941,7 @@ bool ArgsManager::ReadConfigFiles(std::string& error, bool ignore_invalid_keys)
 
     // If datadir is changed in .conf file:
     ClearDatadirCache();
-    if (!fs::is_directory(GetDataDir(false))) {
+    if (!CheckDataDirOption()) {
         error = strprintf("specified data directory \"%s\" does not exist.", gArgs.GetArg("-datadir", "").c_str());
         return false;
     }