diff --git a/internal/cache/sqlite/sqlite.go b/internal/cache/sqlite/sqlite.go
index 7a04978..594fd92 100644
--- a/internal/cache/sqlite/sqlite.go
+++ b/internal/cache/sqlite/sqlite.go
@@ -85,11 +85,9 @@ func DeleteScannedAssets(path string, results ...magellan.RemoteAsset) error {
 
 func GetScannedAssets(path string) ([]magellan.RemoteAsset, error) {
 	// check if path exists first to prevent creating the database
-	exists, err := util.PathExists(path)
+	_, exists := util.PathExists(path)
 	if !exists {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no file found")
-	} else if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	// now check if the file is the SQLite database
diff --git a/internal/collect.go b/internal/collect.go
index 8c03050..e853802 100644
--- a/internal/collect.go
+++ b/internal/collect.go
@@ -10,13 +10,13 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"path"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/OpenCHAMI/magellan/pkg/client"
 	"github.com/OpenCHAMI/magellan/pkg/crawler"
 
-	"github.com/OpenCHAMI/magellan/internal/util"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 
 	"github.com/Cray-HPE/hms-xname/xnames"
@@ -148,25 +148,20 @@ func CollectInventory(assets *[]RemoteAsset, params *CollectParams) error {
 
 				// write JSON data to file if output path is set using hive partitioning strategy
 				if outputPath != "" {
-					// make directory if it does exists
-					exists, err := util.PathExists(outputPath)
-					if err == nil && !exists {
-						err = os.MkdirAll(outputPath, 0o644)
+					var (
+						finalPath = fmt.Sprintf("./%s/%s/%d.json", outputPath, data["ID"], time.Now().Unix())
+						finalDir  = filepath.Dir(finalPath)
+					)
+					// if it doesn't, make the directory and write file
+					err = os.MkdirAll(finalDir, 0o777)
+					if err == nil { // no error
+						err = os.WriteFile(path.Clean(finalPath), body, os.ModePerm)
 						if err != nil {
-							log.Error().Err(err).Msg("failed to make directory for output")
-						} else {
-							// make the output directory to store files
-							outputPath, err := util.MakeOutputDirectory(outputPath, false)
-							if err != nil {
-								log.Error().Err(err).Msg("failed to make output directory")
-							} else {
-								// write the output to the final path
-								err = os.WriteFile(path.Clean(fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s/%d.json", params.URI, outputPath, time.Now().Unix())), body, os.ModePerm)
-								if err != nil {
-									log.Error().Err(err).Msgf("failed to write data to file")
-								}
-							}
+							log.Error().Err(err).Msgf("failed to write collect output to file")
 						}
+
+					} else { // error is set
+						log.Error().Err(err).Msg("failed to make directory for collect output")
 					}
 				}
 
diff --git a/internal/util/path.go b/internal/util/path.go
index c2e3e58..de63954 100644
--- a/internal/util/path.go
+++ b/internal/util/path.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package util
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"io/fs"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
@@ -13,15 +14,9 @@ import (
 //
 // Returns whether the path exists and no error if successful,
 // otherwise, it returns false with an error.
-func PathExists(path string) (bool, error) {
-	_, err := os.Stat(path)
-	if err == nil {
-		return true, nil
-	}
-	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
-		return false, nil
-	}
-	return false, err
+func PathExists(path string) (fs.FileInfo, bool) {
+	fi, err := os.Stat(path)
+	return fi, !os.IsNotExist(err)
 }
 
 // SplitPathForViper() is an utility function to split a path into 3 parts:
@@ -51,17 +46,14 @@ func MakeOutputDirectory(path string, overwrite bool) (string, error) {
 	final := path + "/" + dirname
 
 	// check if path is valid and directory
-	pathExists, err := PathExists(final)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to check for existing path: %v", err)
-	}
+	_, pathExists := PathExists(final)
 	if pathExists && !overwrite {
 		// make sure it is directory with 0o644 permissions
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("found existing path: %v", final)
 	}
 
 	// create directory with data + time
-	err = os.MkdirAll(final, 0766)
+	err := os.MkdirAll(final, 0766)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to make directory: %v", err)
 	}