diff --git a/common/readfromfile.go b/common/readfromfile.go
index cbfa82a178..c19c1bb37b 100644
--- a/common/readfromfile.go
+++ b/common/readfromfile.go
@@ -11,10 +11,9 @@ import (
 // A valid string will always be returned, regardless of whether an error occurred.
 func ReadFromFile(s string) (string, error) {
 	info, err := os.Stat(s)
-	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
-		// If the supplied string is not a path to a file,
-		// assume it is the pass and return it
-		return s, nil
+	// Return string as-is if the Stat call returned any error
+	if err != nil {
+		return s, err
 	}
 	if info.IsDir() {
 		// If the supplied string is a directory,
diff --git a/common/readfromfile_test.go b/common/readfromfile_test.go
index b55dd4a7c9..b4a78d7dab 100644
--- a/common/readfromfile_test.go
+++ b/common/readfromfile_test.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ func TestReadFromFileNoFileExists(t *testing.T) {
 	// ReadFromFile should return the string it was supplied
 	output, err := ReadFromFile(input)
 
-	assert.Nil(err)
+	assert.NotNil(err)
 	// ReadFromFile should return the originally supplied string
 	assert.Equal(expectedOutput, output)
 }