diff --git a/src/holoscan_cli/common/argparse_types.py b/src/holoscan_cli/common/argparse_types.py
index 5de293c..276595e 100644
--- a/src/holoscan_cli/common/argparse_types.py
+++ b/src/holoscan_cli/common/argparse_types.py
@@ -84,10 +84,10 @@ def valid_existing_path(path: str) -> Path:
     path = os.path.expanduser(path)
     file_path = Path(path).absolute()
     if file_path.exists():
-        if os.path.isdir(file_path):
-            if os.listdir(file_path):
+        if file_path.is_dir():
+            if any(os.scandir(file_path)):
                 return file_path
-            raise argparse.ArgumentTypeError(f"No such file/folder: '{file_path}'")
+            raise argparse.ArgumentTypeError(f"Directory is empty: '{file_path}'")
         return file_path
     raise argparse.ArgumentTypeError(f"No such file/folder: '{file_path}'")
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/common/test_argparse_types.py b/tests/unit/common/test_argparse_types.py
index 53a019c..5fcb879 100644
--- a/tests/unit/common/test_argparse_types.py
+++ b/tests/unit/common/test_argparse_types.py
@@ -95,15 +95,15 @@ def test_existing_path_not_exists(self, monkeypatch):
 
     def test_empty_directory(self, monkeypatch):
         monkeypatch.setattr(pathlib.Path, "exists", lambda x: True)
-        monkeypatch.setattr(os.path, "isdir", lambda x: True)
-        monkeypatch.setattr(os, "listdir", lambda x: [])
+        monkeypatch.setattr(pathlib.Path, "is_dir", lambda x: True)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(os, "scandir", lambda x: [])
         with pytest.raises(argparse.ArgumentTypeError):
             valid_existing_path("this/is/some/path")
 
     def test_non_empty_directory(self, monkeypatch):
         monkeypatch.setattr(pathlib.Path, "exists", lambda x: True)
-        monkeypatch.setattr(os.path, "isdir", lambda x: True)
-        monkeypatch.setattr(os, "listdir", lambda x: ["/a"])
+        monkeypatch.setattr(pathlib.Path, "is_dir", lambda x: True)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(os, "scandir", lambda x: ["file"])
         result = valid_existing_path("this/is/some/path")
         assert type(result) is PosixPath