diff --git a/libs/util.js b/libs/util.js
index cf7ccb8..e164408 100644
--- a/libs/util.js
+++ b/libs/util.js
@@ -1,29 +1,31 @@
 const realpath = require('fs').realpath;
 const stat = require('fs').stat;
 
-function fileExists(file) {
-    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-        if (file === undefined) {
-            reject('can not check the existence of an undefined file');
-        }
-        resolvePath(file)
-            .then((path) => {
-                stat(path, (err, stats) => {
-                    if (err) {
-                        reject(err);
-                    }
-                    resolve({ path, stats });
-                })
-            })
-            .catch(reject);
+async function fileExists(file) {
+    if (file === undefined) {
+        throw new Error('can not check the existence of an undefined file');
+    }
+    let path;
+    try {
+        path = await resolvePath(file);
+    } catch (err) {
+        throw err;
+    }
+    return await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+        stat(path, (err, stats) => {
+            if (err) {
+                reject(err);
+            }
+            resolve({path, stats});
+        })
     });
 }
 
-function resolvePath(file) {
-    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-        if (file === undefined) {
-            reject('can not resolve a path to an undefined file');
-        }
+async function resolvePath(file) {
+    if (file === undefined) {
+        throw new Error('can not resolve a path to an undefined file');
+    }
+    return await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
         realpath(file, (err, resolvedPath) => {
             if (err) {
                 reject('resolving path \'' + file + '\' encountered an error >>> ' + err);