Not sure why the existence of the directory would matter. Most of the time, it doesn't exist.

user@host:/home
# perl -w
print "OK" if -d 'I_swear_this_file_aint_here';
print "See, I told you.\n"
<CTRL+D>
See, I told you.
user@host:/home
[download]

I see no special output if the tested for file doesn't exist. It just silently fails.

But...

Thanks for the warnings info! That looks to be what I need, I'll bet.