diff --git a/internal/pkg/dir/dir.go b/internal/pkg/dir/dir.go
index 1b92e1a1b2d3..be46f5fce028 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/dir/dir.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/dir/dir.go
@@ -21,8 +21,40 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
+	"syscall"
 )
 
+// Exists checks if the given path is an existing directory. It returns true if
+// the directory exists. It's different from [IsDirectory] because the latter
+// will return false even if there's a real error, such as permission or general
+// file system access problems. Note: This function primarily checks for the
+// existence of a path and whether it's a directory. It does not guarantee that
+// a directory with the given path can actually be created if it doesn't exist.
+func Exists(path string) (bool, error) {
+	stat, err := os.Stat(path)
+	switch {
+	case err == nil:
+		return stat.IsDir(), nil
+
+	case errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist):
+		if path == "" {
+			// Golang's os.Stat doesn't specify AT_EMPTY_PATH in the stat syscall.
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("%w (try a dot instead of an empty path)", err)
+		}
+
+		// The path doesn't exist.
+		return false, nil
+
+	case errors.Is(err, syscall.ENOTDIR):
+		// Some prefix of the path exists, but is not a directory.
+		// Anyhow, the path itself doesn't exist.
+		return false, nil
+
+	default:
+		return false, err
+	}
+}
+
 // IsDirectory check the given path exists and is a directory
 func IsDirectory(name string) bool {
 	fi, err := os.Stat(name)
diff --git a/internal/pkg/dir/dir_test.go b/internal/pkg/dir/dir_test.go
index b850ddd4e33b..289262d56700 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/dir/dir_test.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/dir/dir_test.go
@@ -19,12 +19,93 @@ package dir_test
 import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"syscall"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/k0sproject/k0s/internal/pkg/dir"
+	"github.com/k0sproject/k0s/internal/testutil"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
+func TestExists(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("existing_directory", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+		exists, err := dir.Exists(tmpDir)
+		if assert.NoError(t, err) {
+			assert.True(t, exists, "Freshly created temp dir should exist")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("nonexistent_path", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+		p := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "some-path")
+
+		exists, err := dir.Exists(p)
+		if assert.NoError(t, err) {
+			assert.False(t, exists, "Nonexistent path shouldn't exist")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("empty_path", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+		defer testutil.Chdir(t, tmpDir)()
+		_, err := dir.Exists("")
+		assert.ErrorIs(t, err, os.ErrNotExist)
+		assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "try a dot instead of an empty path")
+
+		exists, err := dir.Exists(".")
+		if assert.NoError(t, err) {
+			assert.True(t, exists, "Current directory should exist")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("obstructed_path", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+		p := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "some-path")
+		require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(p, []byte("obstructed"), 0644))
+
+		exists, err := dir.Exists(p)
+		if assert.NoError(t, err) {
+			assert.False(t, exists, "Obstructed path shouldn't exist")
+		}
+
+		exists, err = dir.Exists(filepath.Join(p, "sub-path"))
+		if assert.NoError(t, err) {
+			assert.False(t, exists, "Obstructed sub-path shouldn't exist")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("dangling_symlink", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+		nonexistent := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "nonexistent")
+		dangling := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "dangling")
+		require.NoError(t, os.Symlink(nonexistent, dangling))
+
+		exists, err := dir.Exists(dangling)
+		if assert.NoError(t, err) {
+			assert.False(t, exists, "Dangling symlink shouldn't exist")
+		}
+
+		require.NoError(t, os.Mkdir(nonexistent, 0755))
+
+		exists, err = dir.Exists(dangling)
+		if assert.NoError(t, err) {
+			assert.True(t, exists, "Symlinked directory should exist")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("long_path", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+		// The upper limit is 255 for virtually all OSes/FSes
+		longPath := strings.Repeat("x", 256)
+		_, err := dir.Exists(filepath.Join(tmpDir, longPath))
+		assert.ErrorIs(t, err, syscall.ENAMETOOLONG)
+	})
+}
+
 func TestGetAll(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("empty", func(t *testing.T) {
 
diff --git a/internal/pkg/dir/dir_unix_test.go b/internal/pkg/dir/dir_unix_test.go
index ca03dd879e85..dd4802f9d2b1 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/dir/dir_unix_test.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/dir/dir_unix_test.go
@@ -21,14 +21,31 @@ package dir_test
 import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"syscall"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/k0sproject/k0s/internal/pkg/dir"
+
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
 )
 
+func TestExists_Unix(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("no_permissions", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+		require.NoError(t, os.Chmod(tmpDir, 0644))
+
+		exists, err := dir.Exists(tmpDir)
+		if assert.NoError(t, err) {
+			assert.True(t, exists, "Freshly created temp dir should exist")
+		}
+
+		_, err = dir.Exists(filepath.Join(tmpDir, "no-perms"))
+		assert.ErrorIs(t, err, syscall.EACCES, "Shouldn't have permission to check that path")
+	})
+}
+
 func TestInit(t *testing.T) {
 	tmpDir := t.TempDir()