diff --git a/weed/storage/disk_location.go b/weed/storage/disk_location.go
index 3da922f5b..e8c1d10e4 100644
--- a/weed/storage/disk_location.go
+++ b/weed/storage/disk_location.go
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ func (l *DiskLocation) loadExistingVolume(dirEntry os.DirEntry, needleMapKind Ne
 
 	// skip if ec volumes exists, but validate EC files first
 	if skipIfEcVolumesExists {
-		ecxFilePath := l.IdxDirectory + "/" + volumeName + ".ecx"
+		ecxFilePath := filepath.Join(l.IdxDirectory, volumeName+".ecx")
 		if util.FileExists(ecxFilePath) {
 			// Check if EC volume is valid by verifying shard count
 			if !l.validateEcVolume(collection, vid) {
diff --git a/weed/storage/disk_location_ec.go b/weed/storage/disk_location_ec.go
index b30a42ba6..ad4f82f98 100644
--- a/weed/storage/disk_location_ec.go
+++ b/weed/storage/disk_location_ec.go
@@ -208,29 +208,29 @@ func (l *DiskLocation) loadAllEcShards() (err error) {
 				continue
 			}
 
-		if err = l.loadEcShards(sameVolumeShards, collection, volumeId); err != nil {
-			// If EC shards failed to load and .dat still exists, clean up EC files to allow .dat file to be used
-			// If .dat is gone, log error but don't clean up (may be waiting for shards from other servers)
-			if datExists {
-				glog.Warningf("Failed to load EC shards for volume %d and .dat exists: %v, cleaning up EC files to use .dat...", volumeId, err)
-				// Clean up any partially loaded in-memory state before removing files
-				l.DestroyEcVolume(volumeId)
-				l.removeEcVolumeFiles(collection, volumeId)
-			} else {
-				glog.Warningf("Failed to load EC shards for volume %d: %v (this may be normal for distributed EC volumes)", volumeId, err)
-				// Clean up any partially loaded in-memory state even if we don't remove files
-				l.DestroyEcVolume(volumeId)
+			if err = l.loadEcShards(sameVolumeShards, collection, volumeId); err != nil {
+				// If EC shards failed to load and .dat still exists, clean up EC files to allow .dat file to be used
+				// If .dat is gone, log error but don't clean up (may be waiting for shards from other servers)
+				if datExists {
+					glog.Warningf("Failed to load EC shards for volume %d and .dat exists: %v, cleaning up EC files to use .dat...", volumeId, err)
+					// Clean up any partially loaded in-memory state before removing files
+					l.DestroyEcVolume(volumeId)
+					l.removeEcVolumeFiles(collection, volumeId)
+				} else {
+					glog.Warningf("Failed to load EC shards for volume %d: %v (this may be normal for distributed EC volumes)", volumeId, err)
+					// Clean up any partially loaded in-memory state even if we don't remove files
+					l.DestroyEcVolume(volumeId)
+				}
+				sameVolumeShards = nil
+				prevVolumeId = 0
+				continue
 			}
+			prevVolumeId = volumeId
 			sameVolumeShards = nil
-			prevVolumeId = 0
 			continue
 		}
-		prevVolumeId = volumeId
-		sameVolumeShards = nil
-		continue
-	}
 
-}
+	}
 
 	// Check for orphaned EC shards without .ecx file (incomplete EC encoding)
 	// This happens when encoding is interrupted after writing shards but before writing .ecx
@@ -305,11 +305,13 @@ func (l *DiskLocation) validateEcVolume(collection string, vid needle.VolumeId)
 	// Count existing EC shard files
 	for i := 0; i < erasure_coding.TotalShardsCount; i++ {
 		shardFileName := baseFileName + erasure_coding.ToExt(i)
-		if util.FileExists(shardFileName) {
+		if fi, err := os.Stat(shardFileName); err == nil {
 			// Check if file has non-zero size
-			if fi, err := os.Stat(shardFileName); err == nil && fi.Size() > 0 {
+			if fi.Size() > 0 {
 				shardCount++
 			}
+		} else if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			glog.Warningf("Failed to stat shard file %s: %v", shardFileName, err)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -343,7 +345,7 @@ func (l *DiskLocation) removeEcVolumeFiles(collection string, vid needle.VolumeI
 				glog.Warningf("Failed to remove incomplete EC shard file %s: %v", shardFileName, err)
 			}
 		} else {
-			glog.V(0).Infof("Removed incomplete EC shard file: %s", shardFileName)
+			glog.V(2).Infof("Removed incomplete EC shard file: %s", shardFileName)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -353,13 +355,13 @@ func (l *DiskLocation) removeEcVolumeFiles(collection string, vid needle.VolumeI
 			glog.Warningf("Failed to remove incomplete EC index file %s.ecx: %v", indexBaseFileName, err)
 		}
 	} else {
-		glog.V(0).Infof("Removed incomplete EC index file: %s.ecx", indexBaseFileName)
+		glog.V(2).Infof("Removed incomplete EC index file: %s.ecx", indexBaseFileName)
 	}
 	if err := os.Remove(indexBaseFileName + ".ecj"); err != nil {
 		if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
 			glog.Warningf("Failed to remove incomplete EC journal file %s.ecj: %v", indexBaseFileName, err)
 		}
 	} else {
-		glog.V(0).Infof("Removed incomplete EC journal file: %s.ecj", indexBaseFileName)
+		glog.V(2).Infof("Removed incomplete EC journal file: %s.ecj", indexBaseFileName)
 	}
 }