diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/Nextflow.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/Nextflow.groovy
index e7dc15884c..aee6368755 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/Nextflow.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/Nextflow.groovy
@@ -135,7 +135,11 @@ class Nextflow {
         }
 
         // revolve the glob pattern returning all matches
-        return fileNamePattern(splitter, options)
+        final result = fileNamePattern(splitter, options)
+        if( glob && options?.checkIfExists && result.isEmpty() )
+            throw new NoSuchFileException(path.toString())
+
+        return result
     }
 
     static files( Map options=null, def path ) {
diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/NextflowTest.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/NextflowTest.groovy
index f49db65779..4eda38c9a9 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/NextflowTest.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/NextflowTest.groovy
@@ -348,6 +348,12 @@ class NextflowTest extends Specification {
         def e = thrown(NoSuchFileException)
         e.message == foo.toString()
 
+        when:
+        Nextflow.file("$folder/*.txt", checkIfExists: true)
+        then:
+        e = thrown(NoSuchFileException)
+        e.message == "$folder/*.txt"
+
         cleanup:
         folder?.deleteDir()
     }