diff --git a/cli/cppcheckexecutor.cpp b/cli/cppcheckexecutor.cpp
index d6ed1f20a..49a8a6f9b 100644
--- a/cli/cppcheckexecutor.cpp
+++ b/cli/cppcheckexecutor.cpp
@@ -177,8 +177,12 @@ bool CppCheckExecutor::parseFromArgs(CppCheck *cppcheck, int argc, const char* c
     } else if (!pathnames.empty()) {
         // Execute recursiveAddFiles() to each given file parameter
         const PathMatch matcher(ignored, caseSensitive);
-        for (const std::string &pathname : pathnames)
-            FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(mFiles, Path::toNativeSeparators(pathname), mSettings->library.markupExtensions(), matcher);
+        for (const std::string &pathname : pathnames) {
+            std::string err = FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(mFiles, Path::toNativeSeparators(pathname), mSettings->library.markupExtensions(), matcher);
+            if (!err.empty()) {
+                std::cout << "cppcheck: " << err << std::endl;
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     if (mFiles.empty() && settings.project.fileSettings.empty()) {
diff --git a/cli/filelister.cpp b/cli/filelister.cpp
index 2b2e61a67..016f63bac 100644
--- a/cli/filelister.cpp
+++ b/cli/filelister.cpp
@@ -71,12 +71,12 @@ static BOOL myFileExists(const std::string& path)
     return result;
 }
 
-void FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const std::set<std::string> &extra, const PathMatch& ignored)
+std::string FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const std::set<std::string> &extra, const PathMatch& ignored)
 {
-    addFiles(files, path, extra, true, ignored);
+    return addFiles(files, path, extra, true, ignored);
 }
 
-void FileLister::addFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const std::set<std::string> &extra, bool recursive, const PathMatch& ignored)
+std::string FileLister::addFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const std::set<std::string> &extra, bool recursive, const PathMatch& ignored)
 {
     const std::string cleanedPath = Path::toNativeSeparators(path);
 
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ void FileLister::addFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::
     WIN32_FIND_DATAA ffd;
     HANDLE hFind = myFindFirstFile(searchPattern, &ffd);
     if (INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE == hFind)
-        return;
+        return "";
 
     do {
         if (ffd.cFileName[0] == '.' || ffd.cFileName[0] == '\0')
@@ -143,13 +143,17 @@ void FileLister::addFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::
         } else {
             // Directory
             if (recursive) {
-                if (!ignored.match(fname))
-                    FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(files, fname, extra, ignored);
+                if (!ignored.match(fname)) {
+                    std::string err = FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(files, fname, extra, ignored);
+                    if (!err.empty())
+                        return err;
+                }
             }
         }
     } while (FindNextFileA(hFind, &ffd) != FALSE);
 
     FindClose(hFind);
+    return "";
 }
 
 bool FileLister::isDirectory(const std::string &path)
@@ -175,21 +179,22 @@ bool FileLister::fileExists(const std::string &path)
 
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <sys/errno.h>
 
 
-static void addFiles2(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files,
-                      const std::string &path,
-                      const std::set<std::string> &extra,
-                      bool recursive,
-                      const PathMatch& ignored
-                     )
+static std::string addFiles2(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files,
+                             const std::string &path,
+                             const std::set<std::string> &extra,
+                             bool recursive,
+                             const PathMatch& ignored
+                            )
 {
     struct stat file_stat;
     if (stat(path.c_str(), &file_stat) != -1) {
         if ((file_stat.st_mode & S_IFMT) == S_IFDIR) {
             DIR * dir = opendir(path.c_str());
             if (!dir)
-                return;
+                return "";
 
             dirent * dir_result;
             // make sure we reserve enough space for the readdir_r() buffer;
@@ -225,12 +230,16 @@ static void addFiles2(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files,
 #endif
                 if (path_is_directory) {
                     if (recursive && !ignored.match(new_path)) {
-                        addFiles2(files, new_path, extra, recursive, ignored);
+                        std::string err = addFiles2(files, new_path, extra, recursive, ignored);
+                        if (!err.empty())
+                            return err;
                     }
                 } else {
                     if (Path::acceptFile(new_path, extra) && !ignored.match(new_path)) {
-                        stat(new_path.c_str(), &file_stat);
-                        files[new_path] = file_stat.st_size;
+                        if (stat(new_path.c_str(), &file_stat) != -1)
+                            files[new_path] = file_stat.st_size;
+                        else
+                            return "Can't stat " + new_path + " errno: " + std::to_string(errno);
                     }
                 }
             }
@@ -238,22 +247,25 @@ static void addFiles2(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files,
         } else
             files[path] = file_stat.st_size;
     }
+    return "";
 }
 
-void FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const std::set<std::string> &extra, const PathMatch& ignored)
+std::string FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const std::set<std::string> &extra, const PathMatch& ignored)
 {
-    addFiles(files, path, extra, true, ignored);
+    return addFiles(files, path, extra, true, ignored);
 }
 
-void FileLister::addFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const std::set<std::string> &extra, bool recursive, const PathMatch& ignored)
+std::string FileLister::addFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const std::set<std::string> &extra, bool recursive, const PathMatch& ignored)
 {
     if (!path.empty()) {
         std::string corrected_path = path;
         if (endsWith(corrected_path, '/'))
             corrected_path.erase(corrected_path.end() - 1);
 
-        addFiles2(files, corrected_path, extra, recursive, ignored);
+        return addFiles2(files, corrected_path, extra, recursive, ignored);
     }
+
+    return "";
 }
 
 bool FileLister::isDirectory(const std::string &path)
diff --git a/cli/filelister.h b/cli/filelister.h
index 9b0e9ecda..a951df8c9 100644
--- a/cli/filelister.h
+++ b/cli/filelister.h
@@ -40,10 +40,11 @@ public:
      * @param files output map that associates the size of each file with its name
      * @param path root path
      * @param ignored ignored paths
+     * @return On success, an empty string is returned. On error, a error message is returned.
      */
-    static void recursiveAddFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const PathMatch& ignored) {
+    static std::string recursiveAddFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const PathMatch& ignored) {
         const std::set<std::string> extra;
-        recursiveAddFiles(files, path, extra, ignored);
+        return recursiveAddFiles(files, path, extra, ignored);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -55,8 +56,9 @@ public:
      * @param path root path
      * @param extra Extra file extensions
      * @param ignored ignored paths
+     * @return On success, an empty string is returned. On error, a error message is returned.
      */
-    static void recursiveAddFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const std::set<std::string> &extra, const PathMatch& ignored);
+    static std::string recursiveAddFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const std::set<std::string> &extra, const PathMatch& ignored);
 
     /**
      * @brief (Recursively) add source files to a map.
@@ -68,8 +70,9 @@ public:
      * @param extra Extra file extensions
      * @param recursive Enable recursion
      * @param ignored ignored paths
+     * @return On success, an empty string is returned. On error, a error message is returned.
      */
-    static void addFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const std::set<std::string> &extra, bool recursive, const PathMatch& ignored);
+    static std::string addFiles(std::map<std::string, std::size_t> &files, const std::string &path, const std::set<std::string> &extra, bool recursive, const PathMatch& ignored);
 
     /**
      * @brief Is given path a directory?
diff --git a/test/testfilelister.cpp b/test/testfilelister.cpp
index 25c1a206d..e19e62c67 100644
--- a/test/testfilelister.cpp
+++ b/test/testfilelister.cpp
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ private:
         std::map<std::string, std::size_t> files;
         std::vector<std::string> masks;
         PathMatch matcher(masks);
-        FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(files, ".", matcher);
+        std::string err = FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(files, ".", matcher);
+        ASSERT(err.empty());
 
         // In case there are leading "./"..
         for (std::map<std::string, std::size_t>::iterator i = files.begin(); i != files.end();) {
diff --git a/test/testsamples.cpp b/test/testsamples.cpp
index cceb6d4cf..5672437b7 100644
--- a/test/testsamples.cpp
+++ b/test/testsamples.cpp
@@ -53,11 +53,13 @@ private:
         std::map<std::string, std::size_t> files;
         const std::vector<std::string> masks;
         const PathMatch matcher(masks);
+        std::string err =
 #ifdef _WIN32
-        FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(files, "..\\samples", matcher);
+            FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(files, "..\\samples", matcher);
 #else
-        FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(files, "samples", matcher);
+            FileLister::recursiveAddFiles(files, "samples", matcher);
 #endif
+        ASSERT(err.empty());
         for (std::map<std::string, std::size_t>::const_iterator i = files.begin(); i != files.end(); ++i) {
             if (i->first.find("memleak") != std::string::npos)
                 continue;
diff --git a/tools/dmake.cpp b/tools/dmake.cpp
index 988553d70..fb3d729b9 100644
--- a/tools/dmake.cpp
+++ b/tools/dmake.cpp
@@ -58,11 +58,7 @@ static void getDeps(const std::string &filename, std::vector<std::string> &depfi
     if (filename == "externals/z3_version.h")
         return;
 
-    static const std::vector<std::string> externalfolders{"externals",
-        "externals/picojson",
-        "externals/simplecpp",
-        "externals/tinyxml2"
-    };
+    static const std::vector<std::string> externalfolders{"externals", "externals/picojson", "externals/simplecpp", "externals/tinyxml2" };
 
     // Is the dependency already included?
     if (std::find(depfiles.begin(), depfiles.end(), filename) != depfiles.end())
@@ -130,19 +126,22 @@ static void compilefiles(std::ostream &fout, const std::vector<std::string> &fil
     }
 }
 
-static void getCppFiles(std::vector<std::string> &files, const std::string &path, bool recursive)
+static std::string getCppFiles(std::vector<std::string> &files, const std::string &path, bool recursive)
 {
     std::map<std::string,size_t> filemap;
     const std::set<std::string> extra;
     const std::vector<std::string> masks;
     const PathMatch matcher(masks);
-    FileLister::addFiles(filemap, path, extra, recursive, matcher);
+    std::string err = FileLister::addFiles(filemap, path, extra, recursive, matcher);
+    if (!err.empty())
+        return err;
 
     // add *.cpp files to the "files" vector..
     for (const std::pair<const std::string&, size_t> file : filemap) {
         if (file.first.find(".cpp") != std::string::npos)
             files.push_back(file.first);
     }
+    return "";
 }
 
 
@@ -160,19 +159,39 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     // Get files..
     std::vector<std::string> libfiles;
-    getCppFiles(libfiles, "lib/", false);
+    std::string err = getCppFiles(libfiles, "lib/", false);
+    if (!err.empty()) {
+        std::cerr << err << std::endl;
+        return EXIT_FAILURE;
+    }
 
     std::vector<std::string> extfiles;
-    getCppFiles(extfiles, "externals/", true);
+    err = getCppFiles(extfiles, "externals/", true);
+    if (!err.empty()) {
+        std::cerr << err << std::endl;
+        return EXIT_FAILURE;
+    }
 
     std::vector<std::string> clifiles;
-    getCppFiles(clifiles, "cli/", false);
+    err = getCppFiles(clifiles, "cli/", false);
+    if (!err.empty()) {
+        std::cerr << err << std::endl;
+        return EXIT_FAILURE;
+    }
 
     std::vector<std::string> testfiles;
-    getCppFiles(testfiles, "test/", false);
+    err = getCppFiles(testfiles, "test/", false);
+    if (!err.empty()) {
+        std::cerr << err << std::endl;
+        return EXIT_FAILURE;
+    }
 
     std::vector<std::string> toolsfiles;
-    getCppFiles(toolsfiles, "tools/", false);
+    err = getCppFiles(toolsfiles, "tools/", false);
+    if (!err.empty()) {
+        std::cerr << err << std::endl;
+        return EXIT_FAILURE;
+    }
 
     if (libfiles.empty() && clifiles.empty() && testfiles.empty()) {
         std::cerr << "No files found. Are you in the correct directory?" << std::endl;