diff --git a/AnyBuildLogs/latest.txt b/AnyBuildLogs/latest.txt
index 7d2f2ab9a..3e11e6ab6 100644
--- a/AnyBuildLogs/latest.txt
+++ b/AnyBuildLogs/latest.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-20260110-171520-4f890e5e
\ No newline at end of file
+20260116-140907-2cca51ce
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/index.cpp b/src/index.cpp
index 5f1db52b9..e2fc0cacd 100644
--- a/src/index.cpp
+++ b/src/index.cpp
@@ -611,27 +611,27 @@ void Index<T, TagT, LabelT>::load(const IndexLoadParams & load_params)
 
     size_t tags_file_num_pts = 0, graph_num_pts = 0, data_file_num_pts = 0, label_num_pts = 0;
 
-    // Use file paths from load_params if provided, otherwise derive from index_file_path
-    std::string labels_file = load_params.labels_file_path.empty() 
-        ? filename + "_labels.txt" : load_params.labels_file_path;
-    std::string labels_to_medoids = load_params.labels_to_medoids_file_path.empty() 
-        ? filename + "_labels_to_medoids.txt" : load_params.labels_to_medoids_file_path;
-    std::string labels_map_file = load_params.labels_map_file_path.empty() 
-        ? filename + "_labels_map.txt" : load_params.labels_map_file_path;
+    // Use file paths from load_params if provided and file exists, otherwise derive from index_file_path
+    std::string labels_file = (!load_params.labels_file_path.empty() && file_exists(load_params.labels_file_path))
+        ? load_params.labels_file_path : filename + "_labels.txt";
+    std::string labels_to_medoids = (!load_params.labels_to_medoids_file_path.empty() && file_exists(load_params.labels_to_medoids_file_path))
+        ? load_params.labels_to_medoids_file_path : filename + "_labels_to_medoids.txt";
+    std::string labels_map_file = (!load_params.labels_map_file_path.empty() && file_exists(load_params.labels_map_file_path))
+        ? load_params.labels_map_file_path : filename + "_labels_map.txt";
 
     if (!_save_as_one_file)
     {
         // For DLVS Store, we will not support saving the index in multiple
         // files.
 #ifndef EXEC_ENV_OLS
-        std::string data_file = load_params.data_file_path.empty() 
-            ? filename + ".data" : load_params.data_file_path;
-        std::string tags_file = load_params.tags_file_path.empty() 
-            ? filename + ".tags" : load_params.tags_file_path;
-        std::string delete_set_file = load_params.delete_set_file_path.empty() 
-            ? filename + ".del" : load_params.delete_set_file_path;
-        std::string graph_file = load_params.graph_file_path.empty() 
-            ? filename : load_params.graph_file_path;
+        std::string data_file = (!load_params.data_file_path.empty() && file_exists(load_params.data_file_path))
+            ? load_params.data_file_path : filename + ".data";
+        std::string tags_file = (!load_params.tags_file_path.empty() && file_exists(load_params.tags_file_path))
+            ? load_params.tags_file_path : filename + ".tags";
+        std::string delete_set_file = (!load_params.delete_set_file_path.empty() && file_exists(load_params.delete_set_file_path))
+            ? load_params.delete_set_file_path : filename + ".del";
+        std::string graph_file = (!load_params.graph_file_path.empty() && file_exists(load_params.graph_file_path))
+            ? load_params.graph_file_path : filename;
         data_file_num_pts = load_data(data_file);
         this->_table_stats.node_count = data_file_num_pts;
         this->_table_stats.node_mem_usage = this->_data_store->get_data_size();
@@ -666,8 +666,8 @@ void Index<T, TagT, LabelT>::load(const IndexLoadParams & load_params)
         throw diskann::ANNException(stream.str(), -1, __FUNCSIG__, __FILE__, __LINE__);
     }
 
-    std::string index_seller_file = load_params.seller_file_path.empty() 
-        ? filename + "_sellers.bin" : load_params.seller_file_path;
+    std::string index_seller_file = (!load_params.seller_file_path.empty() && file_exists(load_params.seller_file_path))
+        ? load_params.seller_file_path : filename + "_sellers.bin";
     std::string old_index_seller_file = filename + "_sellers.txt";
     if (file_exists(index_seller_file))
     {
@@ -699,10 +699,10 @@ void Index<T, TagT, LabelT>::load(const IndexLoadParams & load_params)
         _diverse_index = true;
     }
 
-    std::string bitmask_label_file = load_params.bitmask_label_file_path.empty() 
-        ? filename + "_bitmask_labels.bin" : load_params.bitmask_label_file_path;
-    std::string integer_label_file = load_params.integer_label_file_path.empty() 
-        ? filename + "_integer_labels.bin" : load_params.integer_label_file_path;
+    std::string bitmask_label_file = (!load_params.bitmask_label_file_path.empty() && file_exists(load_params.bitmask_label_file_path))
+        ? load_params.bitmask_label_file_path : filename + "_bitmask_labels.bin";
+    std::string integer_label_file = (!load_params.integer_label_file_path.empty() && file_exists(load_params.integer_label_file_path))
+        ? load_params.integer_label_file_path : filename + "_integer_labels.bin";
     if (file_exists(labels_file)
         || file_exists(bitmask_label_file)
         || file_exists(integer_label_file))
@@ -764,8 +764,8 @@ void Index<T, TagT, LabelT>::load(const IndexLoadParams & load_params)
         _label_to_start_id.clear();
         label_helper().load_label_medoids(labels_to_medoids, _label_to_start_id);
 
-        std::string universal_label_file = load_params.universal_label_file_path.empty()
-            ? filename + "_universal_label.txt" : load_params.universal_label_file_path;
+        std::string universal_label_file = (!load_params.universal_label_file_path.empty() && file_exists(load_params.universal_label_file_path))
+            ? load_params.universal_label_file_path : filename + "_universal_label.txt";
         if (file_exists(universal_label_file))
         {
             std::ifstream universal_label_reader(universal_label_file);