diff --git a/lib/core/libimagstore/src/store.rs b/lib/core/libimagstore/src/store.rs
index 79236655..b4d91dd8 100644
--- a/lib/core/libimagstore/src/store.rs
+++ b/lib/core/libimagstore/src/store.rs
@@ -229,10 +229,16 @@ impl Store {
 
         debug!("Creating id: '{}'", id);
 
-        let exists = id.exists()? || self.entries
+        let exists = self.entries
             .read()
-            .map(|map| map.contains_key(&id))
             .map_err(|_| SE::from_kind(SEK::LockPoisoned))
+            .map(|map| map.contains_key(&id))
+            .and_then(|exists| if exists {
+                Ok(exists)
+            } else {
+                let pb = id.clone().into_pathbuf().map_err(SE::from)?;
+                self.backend.exists(&pb)
+            })
             .chain_err(|| SEK::CreateCallError(id.clone()))?;
 
         if exists {
@@ -314,10 +320,16 @@ impl Store {
 
         debug!("Getting id: '{}'", id);
 
-        let exists = id.exists()? || self.entries
+        let exists = self.entries
             .read()
-            .map(|map| map.contains_key(&id))
             .map_err(|_| SE::from_kind(SEK::LockPoisoned))
+            .map(|map| map.contains_key(&id))
+            .and_then(|exists| if exists {
+                Ok(exists)
+            } else {
+                let pb = id.clone().into_pathbuf().map_err(SE::from)?;
+                self.backend.exists(&pb)
+            })
             .chain_err(|| SEK::GetCallError(id.clone()))?;
 
         if !exists {
@@ -461,12 +473,7 @@ impl Store {
 
         debug!("Deleting id: '{}'", id);
 
-        // Small optimization: We need the pathbuf for deleting, but when calling
-        // StoreId::exists(), a PathBuf object gets allocated. So we simply get a
-        // PathBuf here, check whether it is there and if it is, we can re-use it to
-        // delete the filesystem file.
         let pb = id.clone().into_pathbuf()?;
-
         {
             let mut entries = self
                 .entries