diff --git a/openstack_election/cmds/ci_check_all_candidate_files.py b/openstack_election/cmds/ci_check_all_candidate_files.py
index 18159795..deab27b8 100755
--- a/openstack_election/cmds/ci_check_all_candidate_files.py
+++ b/openstack_election/cmds/ci_check_all_candidate_files.py
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ def check_for_changes(projects, filepath, limit, verbose=0):
 
 
 def find_modified_candidate_files():
-    "Return a list of files modified by the most recent commit."
+    "Return a list of non-removed files modified by the most recent commit."
     results = subprocess.check_output(
         ['git', 'diff', '--name-only', '--pretty=format:', 'HEAD^']
     ).decode('utf-8')
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ def find_modified_candidate_files():
         li.strip()
         for li in results.splitlines()
         if (li.startswith(utils.CANDIDATE_PATH + '/') and
+            os.path.exists(li) and
             not li.endswith('.placeholder'))
     ]
     return filenames
diff --git a/openstack_election/tests/cmds/test_ci_checks.py b/openstack_election/tests/cmds/test_ci_checks.py
index ade0d22c..a46e196b 100644
--- a/openstack_election/tests/cmds/test_ci_checks.py
+++ b/openstack_election/tests/cmds/test_ci_checks.py
@@ -37,8 +37,10 @@ class TestFindModifiedCandidateFiles(base.ElectionTestCase):
             ci_check_all_candidate_files.find_modified_candidate_files()
         self.assertEqual(expected_filenames, filenames)
 
+    @mock.patch('os.path.exists', return_value=True)
     @mock.patch('subprocess.check_output')
-    def test_find_modified_candidate_files_all_good(self, mock_check_output):
+    def test_find_modified_candidate_files_all_good(
+            self, mock_check_output, mock_path_exists):
         check_output = (('configuration.yaml\n'
                          'openstack_election/__init__py\n'
                          '%(path)s/candidate\n'