diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index bc62143..30dde00 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ use clap::{Parser, Subcommand, ValueEnum};
 use lazy_regex::{lazy_regex, Lazy, Regex};
 use server::{Server, ServerReference};
 use std::cell::LazyCell;
-use std::ffi::{OsStr, OsString};
+use std::ffi::OsStr;
 use std::hash::Hash;
 use std::io::Write;
 use std::iter::once;
@@ -207,32 +207,35 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), String> {
       match &file_server {
         Some(file_server) => match &file_server.address {
           ServerAddress::Ssh { ssh_address } => {
-            //canonicalize remote files
-            //TODO only join when there are multiple paths
-            let joined_files = osf!("{{")
-              + files
-                .iter()
-                .map(|file| file.as_os_str())
-                .collect::<Vec<_>>()
-                .join(&OsString::from(","))
-              + "}";
+            //canonicalize remote files -> also makes sure they exist
+            files = files
+              .iter()
+              .map(|file| {
+                let output = ShellCmd::new("ssh")
+                  .arg(ssh_address)
+                  .arg(osf!("realpath -e ") + file_server.server_directory_path.join(file))
+                  .collect_full_output()
+                  .map_err(|e| format!("Failed to canonicalize files: {e}"))?;
 
-            //TODO handle bad exit status
-            let realpath_output = ShellCmd::new("ssh")
-              .arg(ssh_address)
-              .arg(osf!("realpath ") + file_server.server_directory_path.join(joined_files))
-              .collect_output()
-              .map_err(|e| format!("failed to canonicalize files to upload: {e}"))?;
-            files = realpath_output
-              .stdout
-              .split(|&b| b == b'\n') //split at line breaks
-              .map(|bytes| PathBuf::from(OsStr::from_bytes(bytes)))
+                if !output.status.success() {
+                  Err(format!(
+                    "Path doesn't match any files on file-server: {}",
+                    file.to_string_lossy()
+                  ))?;
+                }
+
+                let denoted_files = output
+                  .stdout
+                  .split(|&b| b == b'\n') //split at line breaks
+                  .map(|bytes| PathBuf::from(OsStr::from_bytes(bytes)))
+                  .collect::<Vec<_>>();
+
+                Ok(denoted_files)
+              })
+              .collect::<Result<Vec<_>, String>>()?
+              .into_iter()
+              .flatten()
               .collect();
-            log!(logger, debug, "canonical files: {files:?}");
-
-            for file in &files {
-              check_file_exists_on_server(file, ssh_address, &file_server.server_directory_path)?;
-            }
           }
           ServerAddress::Localhost => files
             .iter()
@@ -565,6 +568,7 @@ where
   Ok(())
 }
 
+#[allow(dead_code)]
 fn check_file_exists_on_server<P, S, D>(
   path: P,
   ssh_address: S,