diff --git a/lisp/emacs-lisp/icons.el b/lisp/emacs-lisp/icons.el
index a35a00ec1f3..1fc0e39f9fe 100644
--- a/lisp/emacs-lisp/icons.el
+++ b/lisp/emacs-lisp/icons.el
@@ -187,11 +187,13 @@ present if the icon is represented by an image."
   merged)
 
 (cl-defmethod icons--create ((_type (eql 'image)) icon keywords)
-  (let ((file (if (file-name-absolute-p icon)
-                  icon
-                (and (fboundp 'image-search-load-path)
-                     (image-search-load-path icon)))))
-    (and (display-images-p)
+  (let* ((file (if (file-name-absolute-p icon)
+                   icon
+                 (and (fboundp 'image-search-load-path)
+                      (image-search-load-path icon))))
+         (file-exists (and (stringp file) (file-readable-p file))))
+    (and file-exists
+         (display-images-p)
          (fboundp 'image-supported-file-p)
          (image-supported-file-p file)
          (propertize