diff --git a/bin/latexml b/bin/latexml
index 9c5d457e58..a6d564cd08 100755
--- a/bin/latexml
+++ b/bin/latexml
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ UseLog(undef);
 if    (!$serialized) { }
 elsif ($destination) {
   my $OUTPUT;
-  open($OUTPUT, ">", $destination) or die "Couldn't open output file $destination: $!";
+  pathname_openfile($OUTPUT, ">", $destination) or die "Couldn't open output file $destination: $!";
   print $OUTPUT $serialized;
   close($OUTPUT); }
 else {
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ sub validate_args {
 
   # Check search paths
   @paths = map { pathname_canonical($_) } reverse(@paths);
-  if (my @baddirs = grep { !-d $_ } @paths) {
+  if (my @baddirs = grep { !pathname_test_d($_) } @paths) {
     push(@fails, "These search path do not exist: " . join(', ', @baddirs)); }
 
   # Find the requested source
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ sub validate_args {
   }
   elsif (!($pathname = pathname_find($source, types => ['tex', 'bib', ''], paths => ['.', @paths])
       || ($initfile && pathname_kpsewhich($source, types => ['tex', 'ltx'], paths => ['.', @paths])))
-    || !-r $pathname) {
+    || !pathname_test_r($pathname)) {
     push(@fails, "Input file '$source' not readable"); }
   else {
     $mode = 'BibTeX' if !defined $mode && ($pathname =~ /\.bib$/);
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ sub validate_args {
     $destination = pathname_canonical($destination);
     if (my $dir = pathname_directory($destination)) {
       # -w is not about writeability on Windows, see https://perldoc.perl.org/perlport#-X
-      if (!(pathname_mkdir($dir) && ($^O eq 'MSWin32' || -w $dir))) {
+      if (!(pathname_mkdir($dir) && ($^O eq 'MSWin32' || pathname_test_w($dir)))) {
         push(@fails, "Couldn't create writable destination directory $dir: $!"); } } }
   if($initfile && !$destination){
     push(@fails, "No destination for dump of $initfile"); }
diff --git a/bin/latexmlc b/bin/latexmlc
index 402fa95a01..a9bb3bc924 100755
--- a/bin/latexmlc
+++ b/bin/latexmlc
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ use JSON::XS qw(decode_json);
 
 # Determine if a socket server is installed locally and obtain its pathname:
 my $latexmls;
-$latexmls = catfile($RealBin_safe, 'latexmls') if (-e catfile($RealBin_safe, 'latexmls'));
+$latexmls = catfile($RealBin_safe, 'latexmls') if pathname_test_e(catfile($RealBin_safe, 'latexmls'));
 $latexmls = which('latexmls') unless defined $latexmls;
 
 # Some defaults:
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ if (!$opts->get('base')) {
 
 # Record if destination exists, for summary
 my $deststat;
-$deststat = (stat($opts->get('destination')))[9] if $opts->get('destination');
+$deststat = (pathname_stat($opts->get('destination')))[9] if $opts->get('destination');
 $deststat = 0 unless defined $deststat;
 
 push @$keyvals,                ['path', $cdir];    #add current path, to ensure never empty
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ if (!$logfile) {
   $opts->set('log', $logfile); }
 # A bit special: Since LaTeXML.pm will always try to append to the log file
 # make sure the file is new before we start.
-unlink($logfile) if (-f $logfile);
+unlink($logfile) if pathname_test_f($logfile);
 
 #***************************************************************************
 # Prepare output variables:
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ if ($result) {
   # has ALREADY encoded (in this case to utf8), so NO encode is needed!
   if ($destination) {
     my $output_handle;
-    open($output_handle, ">", $destination) or die("Fatal:I/O:forbidden Couldn't open output file " . $destination . ": $!");
+    pathname_openfile($output_handle, ">", $destination) or die("Fatal:I/O:forbidden Couldn't open output file " . $destination . ": $!");
     if ($whatsout eq 'archive') {
       binmode($output_handle, ':raw');
     }
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ if ($status_code == 3 || ($status =~ /fatal error/)) {    # non-zero exit code f
 # == Helpers ==
 sub summary {
   my ($destination, $prior_stat) = @_;
-  my $new_stat = (stat($destination))[9] || 0;
+  my $new_stat = (pathname_stat($destination))[9] || 0;
   return ($new_stat && ($prior_stat != $new_stat)) ? "\nWrote $destination\n" :
     "\nError! Did not write file $destination\n"; }
 
diff --git a/bin/latexmlmath b/bin/latexmlmath
index 4d58f76fd1..c76b363bf4 100755
--- a/bin/latexmlmath
+++ b/bin/latexmlmath
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ EODoc
 # Digest the TeX
 #======================================================================
 @paths = map { pathname_canonical($_) } @paths;
-if (my @baddirs = grep { !-d $_ } @paths) {
+if (my @baddirs = grep { !pathname_test_d($_) } @paths) {
   warn "$LaTeXML::IDENTITY: these path directories do not exist: " . join(', ', @baddirs) . "\n"; }
 
 my $latexml = LaTeXML::Core->new(preload => ['LaTeX.pool', @preload], searchpaths => [@paths],
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ if ($mathimage) {
     DirectMathImages->new(magnification => $mag,
       imagename => $mathimage, imagetype => $imagetype,
       %OPTIONS));
-  unlink('LaTeXML.cache'); }
+  pathname_unlink('LaTeXML.cache'); }
 
 if ($mathsvg) {
   my $imagetype = 'svg';
@@ -201,18 +201,18 @@ if ($mathsvg) {
         imagename => $tmpfile, imagetype => $imagetype,
         %OPTIONS));
     my $SVG;
-    open($SVG, '<', "$tmpfile.svg") or die "Couldn't read temporary svg output '$tmpfile': $!";
+    pathname_openfile($SVG, '<', "$tmpfile.svg") or die "Couldn't read temporary svg output '$tmpfile': $!";
     while (<$SVG>) {
       print $_; }
     close($SVG);
-    unlink "$tmpfile.svg"; }
+    pathname_unlink("$tmpfile.svg"); }
   else {
     $mathsvg =~ s/\.svg$//;
     my ($result) = $post->ProcessChain(cloneDoc($document),
       DirectMathImages->new(magnification => $mag,
         imagename => $mathsvg, imagetype => $imagetype,
         %OPTIONS)); }
-  unlink('LaTeXML.cache'); }
+  pathname_unlink('LaTeXML.cache'); }
 
 if ($pmml) {
   require LaTeXML::Post::MathML::Presentation;
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ sub outputText {
     if (my $dir = pathname_directory($destination)) {
       pathname_mkdir($dir) or die "Couldn't create destination directory $dir: $!"; }
     my $OUT;
-    open($OUT, '>', $destination) or die "Couldn't open output file $destination: $!";
+    pathname_openfile($OUT, '>', $destination) or die "Couldn't open output file $destination: $!";
     binmode($OUT, ":encoding(UTF-8)");
     print $OUT $serialized;
     close($OUT); }
diff --git a/bin/latexmlpost b/bin/latexmlpost
index 52b5f7e67a..5efbfdbbcd 100755
--- a/bin/latexmlpost
+++ b/bin/latexmlpost
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ eval {    # Catch errors
       our %OPTIONS = (
         searchpaths => ['.', @paths, $DOCUMENT->getSearchPaths],
       );
-      if (defined $dbfile && !-f $dbfile) {
+      if (defined $dbfile && !pathname_test_f($dbfile)) {
         if (my $dbdir = pathname_directory($dbfile)) {
           pathname_mkdir($dbdir); } }
       my $DB = LaTeXML::Util::ObjectDB->new(dbfile => $dbfile, %OPTIONS);
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ sub validate_args {
 
   # Check search paths
   @paths = map { pathname_canonical($_) } reverse(@paths);
-  if (my @baddirs = grep { !-d $_ } @paths) {
+  if (my @baddirs = grep { !pathname_test_d($_) } @paths) {
     push(@fails, "These search paths do not exist: " . join(', ', @baddirs)); }
 
   # Find the requested XML file
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ sub validate_args {
   elsif ($xmlfile eq '-') {    # Any sense in pre-reading it here??
   }
   elsif (!($pathname = pathname_find($xmlfile, types => ['xml', ''], paths => ['.', @paths]))
-    || !-r $pathname) {
+    || !pathname_test_r($pathname)) {
     push(@fails, "Input file '$xmlfile' not readable"); }
   else {
     $xmlfile = $pathname; }
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML.pm b/lib/LaTeXML.pm
index 1fe43bf0e2..0bd7d9dcc0 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML.pm
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ sub convert_post {
   my @procs    = ();
   #TODO: Add support for the following:
   my $dbfile = $$opts{dbfile};
-  if (defined $dbfile && !-f $dbfile) {
+  if (defined $dbfile && !pathname_test_f($dbfile)) {
     if (my $dbdir = pathname_directory($dbfile)) {
       pathname_mkdir($dbdir); } }
   my $DB = LaTeXML::Util::ObjectDB->new(dbfile => $dbfile, %PostOPS);
@@ -632,7 +632,7 @@ sub convert_post {
       NoteLog(($$opts{recursive} ? "recursive " : "") . "processing finished " . localtime());
       my $archive_log_status_code = max($$runtime{status_code}, $latexmlpost->getStatusCode);
       Note("Status:conversion:" . $archive_log_status_code);
-      open my $log_fh, '>', $log_file;
+      pathname_openfile(my $log_fh, '>', $log_file);
       print $log_fh $self->flush_log;
       close $log_fh;
       $self->bind_log; }
@@ -702,7 +702,7 @@ sub new_latexml {
     nomathparse     => $$opts{nomathparse},     # Backwards compatibility
     mathparse       => $$opts{mathparse});
 
-  if (my @baddirs = grep { !-d $_ } @{ $$opts{paths} }) {
+  if (my @baddirs = grep { !pathname_test_d($_) } @{ $$opts{paths} }) {
     warn "\n$LaTeXML::IDENTITY : these path directories do not exist: " . join(', ', @baddirs) . "\n"; }
 
   $latexml->withState(sub {
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Config.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Config.pm
index f6c4d34cbf..98af566686 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Config.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Config.pm
@@ -633,7 +633,7 @@ sub _read_options_file {
   my $OPT;
 #### Now can we report status to right places before we've gotten configuration??? (verbosity, logfile...)
 ####  ProgressSpinup("Loading profile $file");
-  unless (open($OPT, "<", $file)) {
+  unless (pathname_openfile($OPT, "<", $file)) {
     Error('expected', $file, "Could not open options file '$file'");
     return; }
   while (my $line = <$OPT>) {
@@ -662,7 +662,7 @@ sub _read_options_file {
           # But also the standard behaviour, where the $env is an array of paths
           $env_value = $ENV{$env_name};
           next unless $env_value;
-          @values = grep { -d $_ } reverse(split(':', $env_value));
+          @values = grep { pathname_test_d($_) } reverse(split(':', $env_value));
           next unless @values; }
         CORE::push(@$opts, "--$key=$_") foreach (@values); }
       else {
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Error.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Error.pm
index 71194c88d9..451d4c654c 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Error.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Error.pm
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ sub UseLog {
     $log_count++;
     return if $LOG or not($path);                 # already opened?
     pathname_mkdir(pathname_directory($path));    # and hopefully no errors! :>
-    open($LOG, ($append ? '>>' : '>'), $path) or die "Cannot open log file $path for writing: $!";
+    pathname_openfile($LOG, ($append ? '>>' : '>'), $path) or die "Cannot open log file $path for writing: $!";
     $LOG_PATH = $path;
     binmode($LOG, ":encoding(UTF-8)"); }
   return; }
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Font/Metric.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Font/Metric.pm
index b7b78698cf..bd4df6ec2a 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Font/Metric.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Font/Metric.pm
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ sub read_tfm {
   my $pathname = $$self{file};
   # Read the TFM raw data.
   my $TFM;
-  if (!open($TFM, '<', $pathname)) {
+  if (!pathname_openfile($TFM, '<', $pathname)) {
     Error('expected', $pathname, undef,
       "Couldn't open TFM files '$pathname': $!");
     return; }
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Model.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Model.pm
index 89724e8144..091e8f61f8 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Model.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Common/Model.pm
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ sub loadCompiledSchema {
   my ($self, $file) = @_;
   ProgressSpinup("Loading compiled schema $file");
   my $MODEL;
-  open($MODEL, '<', $file) or Fatal('I/O', $file, undef, "Cannot open Compiled Model $file for reading", $!);
+  pathname_openfile($MODEL, '<', $file) or Fatal('I/O', $file, undef, "Cannot open Compiled Model $file for reading", $!);
   my $line;
   while ($line = <$MODEL>) {
     if ($line =~ /^([^\{]+)\{(.*?)\}\((.*?)\)$/) {
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Common/XML/Parser.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Common/XML/Parser.pm
index a7388fb105..7ce6249cd2 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Common/XML/Parser.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Common/XML/Parser.pm
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 package LaTeXML::Common::XML::Parser;
 use strict;
 use warnings;
+use LaTeXML::Util::Pathname;
 use XML::LibXML;
 
 sub new {
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ sub parseFile {
   my ($self, $file) = @_;
   LaTeXML::Common::XML::initialize_catalogs();
   #  LaTeXML::Common::XML::initialize_input_callbacks($$self{parser});
-  if (((-s $file) || 0) > 20_000_000) {
+  if ((pathname_test_s($file) || 0) > 20_000_000) {
     $$self{parser}->set_option('huge', 1); }
   return $$self{parser}->parse_file($file); }
 
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Core/Mouth/file.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Core/Mouth/file.pm
index 3e09a83123..26ed569df5 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Core/Mouth/file.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Core/Mouth/file.pm
@@ -32,11 +32,11 @@ sub new {
 sub openFile {
   my ($self, $pathname) = @_;
   my $IN;
-  if (!-r $pathname) {
+  if (!pathname_test_r($pathname)) {
     Error('I/O', 'unreadable', $self, "File $pathname is not readable. Ignoring."); }
-  elsif ((!-z $pathname) && (-B $pathname)) {
+  elsif (!pathname_test_z($pathname) && pathname_test_B($pathname)) {
     Error('invalid', 'binary', $self, "Input file $pathname appears to be binary. Ignoring."); }
-  elsif (open($IN, '<:raw', $pathname)) { }
+  elsif (pathname_openfile($IN, '<:raw', $pathname)) { }
   else {
     Error('I/O', 'open', $self, "Can't open $pathname for reading", $!); }
   $$self{IN}     = $IN;
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Engine/pdfTeX.pool.ltxml b/lib/LaTeXML/Engine/pdfTeX.pool.ltxml
index 2d074996ab..188d6e2fad 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Engine/pdfTeX.pool.ltxml
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Engine/pdfTeX.pool.ltxml
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ DefMacro('\pdffilesize{}', sub {
     # used in expl3's \__file_full_name:n , among others
     my ($gullet, $file) = @_;
     if (my $path = FindFile(ToString(Expand($file)))) {
-      my @stat = stat $path;
+      my @stat = pathname_stat($path);
       return (defined $stat[7]) ? Explode($stat[7]) : (); }
     else {
       return (); } });
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Package.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Package.pm
index 963f64aeb2..aee95d44b6 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Package.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Package.pm
@@ -2087,8 +2087,8 @@ sub FindFile_aux {
     return $file; }
   if (pathname_is_absolute($file)) {    # And if we've got an absolute path,
     if (!$options{noltxml}) {
-      return $file . '.ltxml' if -f ($file . '.ltxml'); }    # No need to search, just check if it exists.
-    return $file if -f $file;    # No need to search, just check if it exists.
+      return $file . '.ltxml' if pathname_test_f($file . '.ltxml'); }    # No need to search, just check if it exists.
+    return $file if pathname_test_f($file);    # No need to search, just check if it exists.
     return; }                    # otherwise we're never going to find it.
 
   # Note that the strategy is complicated by the fact that
@@ -2132,7 +2132,7 @@ sub FindFile_aux {
   local $ENV{TEXINPUTS} = join($Config::Config{'path_sep'},
     @$paths, $ENV{TEXINPUTS} || $Config::Config{'path_sep'});
   if (my $result = (!$options{searchpaths_only}) && pathname_kpsewhich(@candidates)) {
-    return (-f $result ? $result : undef); }
+    return pathname_test_f($result) ? $result : undef; }
   if ($urlbase && ($path = url_find($file, urlbase => $urlbase))) {
     return $path; }
   return; }
@@ -2760,7 +2760,7 @@ sub maybeRequireDependencies {
   if (my $path = FindFile($file, type => $type, noltxml => 1)) {
     local $/ = undef;
     my $IN;
-    if (open($IN, '<', $path)) {
+    if (pathname_openfile($IN, '<', $path)) {
       my $code = <$IN>;
       close($IN);
       my @classes  = ();
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Package/listings.sty.ltxml b/lib/LaTeXML/Package/listings.sty.ltxml
index 857129d147..9e9f4eb0b7 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Package/listings.sty.ltxml
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Package/listings.sty.ltxml
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ sub listingsReadRawFile {
   my $path     = FindFile($filename);
   my $text;
   my $LST_FH;
-  if ($path && open($LST_FH, '<', $path)) {
+  if ($path && pathname_openfile($LST_FH, '<', $path)) {
     { local $/ = undef;
       $text = <$LST_FH>;
       close($LST_FH); } }
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Post.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Post.pm
index 8859e5d726..0483d851e0 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Post.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Post.pm
@@ -1544,7 +1544,7 @@ sub openCache {
       or return Fatal('internal', 'db', undef,
       "Couldn't create DB cache for " . $self->getDestination,
       "Message was: " . $!,
-      (-f $dbfile ? "\n(possibly incompatible db format?)" : ''));
+      (pathname_test_f($dbfile) ? "\n(possibly incompatible db format?)" : ''));
   }
   return; }
 
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Post/Graphics.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Post/Graphics.pm
index ff9aa82d0e..d168e862a0 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Post/Graphics.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Post/Graphics.pm
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ sub findGraphicFile {
   my ($self, $doc, $node) = @_;
   if (my $source = $node->getAttribute('graphic')) {
     # if we already have a usable candidate, save ourselves the work
-    my @paths = grep { -e $_ } split(',', $node->getAttribute('candidates') || '');
+    my @paths = grep { pathname_test_e($_) } split(',', $node->getAttribute('candidates') || '');
     if (!scalar(@paths)) {
       # Find all acceptable image files, in order of search paths
       my ($dir, $name, $reqtype) = pathname_split($source);
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Post/LaTeXImages.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Post/LaTeXImages.pm
index 9c6e632044..ee8ccf5863 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Post/LaTeXImages.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Post/LaTeXImages.pm
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ sub generateImages {
   foreach my $key (sort keys %table) {
     my $store = $doc->cacheLookup($key);
     if ($store && ($store =~ /^(.*);(\d+);(\d+);(\d+)$/)) {
-      next if -f pathname_absolute($1, $destdir); }
+      next if pathname_test_f(pathname_absolute($1, $destdir)); }
     push(@pending, $table{$key}); }
 
   Debug("LaTeXImages: $nuniq unique; " . scalar(@pending) . " new") if $LaTeXML::DEBUG{images};
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ sub generateImages {
     # === Generate the LaTeX file.
     my $texfile = pathname_make(dir => $workdir, name => $jobname, type => 'tex');
     my $TEX;
-    if (!open($TEX, '>', $texfile)) {
+    if (!pathname_openfile($TEX, '>', $texfile)) {
       Error('I/O', $texfile, undef, "Cant write to '$texfile'", "Response was: $!");
       return $doc; }
     my ($pre_preamble, $add_to_body) = $self->pre_preamble($doc);
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ sub generateImages {
 
     # Sometimes latex returns non-zero code, even though it apparently succeeded.
     # And sometimes it doesn't produce a dvi, even with 0 return code?
-    if (($ltxerr != 0) || (!-f "$workdir/$jobname.dvi")) {
+    if ($ltxerr != 0 || !pathname_test_f("$workdir/$jobname.dvi")) {
       $workdir->unlink_on_destroy(0) if $LaTeXML::DEBUG{images};    # Preserve junk
       Error('shell', $LATEXCMD, undef,
         "LaTeX command '$ltxcommand' failed",
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ sub generateImages {
     # Extract dimensions (width x height+depth) from each image from log file.
     my @dimensions = ();
     my $LOG;
-    if (open($LOG, '<', "$workdir/$jobname.log")) {
+    if (pathname_openfile($LOG, '<', "$workdir/$jobname.log")) {
       while (<$LOG>) {
         if (/^\s*LXIMAGE\s*(\d+)\s*=\s*([\+\-\d\.]+)pt\s*x\s*([\+\-\d\.]+)pt\s*\+\s*([\+\-\d\.]+)pt\s*$/) {
           $dimensions[$1] = [$2, $3, $4]; } }
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ sub generateImages {
     my ($index, $ndigits) = (0, 1 + int(log($doc->cacheLookup((ref $self) . ':_max_image_') || 1) / log(10)));
     foreach my $entry (@pending) {
       my $src = "$workdir/" . sprintf($$self{dvicmd_output_name}, ++$index);
-      if (-f $src) {
+      if (pathname_test_f($src)) {
         my @dests = @{ $$entry{dest} };
         push(@dests, $self->generateResourcePathname($doc, $$entry{nodes}[0], undef, $$self{imagetype}))
           unless @dests;
@@ -528,10 +528,10 @@ sub convert_image {
 
 sub DESTROY {
   if (my $tmpdir = File::Spec->tmpdir()) {
-    if (-d $tmpdir && opendir(my $tmpdir_fh, $tmpdir)) {
-      my @empty_magick = grep { -z $_ } map { "$tmpdir/$_" } readdir($tmpdir_fh);
+    if (pathname_test_d($tmpdir) && pathname_opendir(my $tmpdir_fh, $tmpdir)) {
+      my @empty_magick = grep { pathname_test_z($_) } map { "$tmpdir/$_" } readdir($tmpdir_fh);
       closedir($tmpdir_fh);
-      unlink $_ foreach @empty_magick;
+      pathname_unlink($_) foreach @empty_magick;
   } }
   return; }
 
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Post/MakeBibliography.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Post/MakeBibliography.pm
index e01b19bc05..c978a4b145 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Post/MakeBibliography.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Post/MakeBibliography.pm
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ sub getBibliographies {
           $raw .= $rawbib; }
         else {
           # TODO: Is this a memory concern for large bib files?
-          if (open(my $bibfh, '<', $rawbib)) {
+          if (pathname_openfile(my $bibfh, '<', $rawbib)) {
             $raw .= join("", <$bibfh>);
             close $bibfh; }
           else {
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ sub convertBibliography {
   # ->bind_log analog:
   my $biblog = '';
 ###  my $biblog_handle;
-###  open($biblog_handle, ">>", \$biblog) or Error("Can't redirect STDERR to log for inner bibliography converter!");
+###  pathname_openfile($biblog_handle, ">>", \$biblog) or Error("Can't redirect STDERR to log for inner bibliography converter!");
 ###  *BIB_STDERR_SAVED = *STDERR;
 ###  *STDERR           = *$biblog_handle;
   # end ->bind_log
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Post/Manifest/Epub.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Post/Manifest/Epub.pm
index 42f7d3245a..760b0e0a9c 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Post/Manifest/Epub.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Post/Manifest/Epub.pm
@@ -72,17 +72,17 @@ sub initialize {
   # 1. Create mimetype declaration
   my $EPUB_FH;
   my $mime_path = pathname_concat($directory, 'mimetype');
-  open($EPUB_FH, ">", $mime_path)
+  pathname_openfile($EPUB_FH, ">", $mime_path)
     or Fatal('I/O', 'mimetype', $doc, "Couldn't open '$mime_path' for writing: $!");
   print $EPUB_FH 'application/epub+zip';
   close $EPUB_FH;
   # 2. Create META-INF metadata directory
   my $meta_inf_dir = catdir($directory, 'META-INF');
-  mkdir $meta_inf_dir;
+  pathname_mkdir($meta_inf_dir);
   # 2.1. Add the container.xml description
   my $CONTAINER_FH;
   my $container_path = pathname_concat($meta_inf_dir, 'container.xml');
-  open($CONTAINER_FH, ">", $container_path)
+  pathname_openfile($CONTAINER_FH, ">", $container_path)
     or Fatal('I/O', 'container.xml', $doc, "Couldn't open '$container_path' for writing: $!");
   print $CONTAINER_FH $container_content;
   close $CONTAINER_FH;
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ sub finalize {
         my $OPS_abspath  = $_;
         my $OPS_pathname = pathname_relative($OPS_abspath, $OPS_directory);
         my (undef, $name, $ext) = pathname_split($OPS_pathname);
-        if (-f $OPS_abspath && $ext ne 'xhtml' && "$name.$ext" ne 'LaTeXML.cache' && $OPS_abspath ne 'content.opf') {
+        if (pathname_test_f($OPS_abspath) && $ext ne 'xhtml' && "$name.$ext" ne 'LaTeXML.cache' && $OPS_abspath ne 'content.opf') {
           push(@content, $OPS_pathname); }
       } }, $OPS_directory);
 
@@ -223,11 +223,11 @@ sub finalize {
   # Write the content.opf file to disk
   my $directory    = $$self{siteDirectory};
   my $content_path = pathname_concat($OPS_directory, 'content.opf');
-  if (-f $content_path) {
+  if (pathname_test_f($content_path)) {
     Info('note', 'content.opf', undef, 'using the manifest supplied by the user'); }
   else {
     my $OPF_FH;
-    open($OPF_FH, ">", $content_path)
+    pathname_openfile($OPF_FH, ">", $content_path)
       or Fatal('I/O', 'content.opf', undef, "Couldn't open '$content_path' for writing: $_");
     print $OPF_FH $$self{opf}->toString(1);
     close $OPF_FH; }
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Post/Writer.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Post/Writer.pm
index da29b7ee8d..b938878564 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Post/Writer.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Post/Writer.pm
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ sub process {
       or return Fatal('I/O', $destdir, undef, "Couldn't create directory '$destdir'",
       "Response was: $!");
     my $OUT;
-    open($OUT, '>', $destination)
+    pathname_openfile($OUT, '>', $destination)
       or return Fatal('I/O', $destdir, undef, "Couldn't write '$destination'", "Response was: $!");
     print $OUT $serialized;
     close($OUT); }
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Post/XSLT.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Post/XSLT.pm
index 385269cd88..b158cae7a4 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Post/XSLT.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Post/XSLT.pm
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ sub new {
       types => ['xsl'], installation_subdir => 'resources/XSLT',
       paths => $$self{searchpaths} || ['.']);
     Error('missing-file', $stylesheet, undef, "No stylesheet '$stylesheet' found!")
-      unless $pathname && -f $pathname;
+      unless $pathname && pathname_test_f($pathname);
     $stylesheet = $pathname; }
   $stylesheet = $stylesheet && LaTeXML::Common::XML::XSLT->new($stylesheet);
   if ((!ref $stylesheet) || !($stylesheet->can('transform'))) {
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Pre/BibTeX.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Pre/BibTeX.pm
index b604cf82f6..d171f751ff 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Pre/BibTeX.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Pre/BibTeX.pm
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ sub newFromFile {
     "SEACHPATHS is " . join(', ', @$paths)) unless $file;
   my $BIB;
   $$self{file} = $bibname;
-  open($BIB, '<', $file) or Fatal('I/O', $file, undef, "Can't open BibTeX $file for reading", $!);
+  pathname_openfile($BIB, '<', $file) or Fatal('I/O', $file, undef, "Can't open BibTeX $file for reading", $!);
   $$self{lines} = [<$BIB>];
   close($BIB);
   $$self{line}   = shift(@{ $$self{lines} }) || '';
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Util/ObjectDB.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Util/ObjectDB.pm
index 09a4e9743e..1f6dba3b33 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Util/ObjectDB.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Util/ObjectDB.pm
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ sub new {
   my $dbfile = $options{dbfile};
   if ($dbfile && $options{clean}) {
     warn "\nWARN: Removing Object database file $dbfile!!!\n";
-    unlink($dbfile); }
+    pathname_unlink($dbfile); }
 
   my $self = bless { dbfile => $dbfile,
     objects   => {}, externaldb => {},
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pack.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pack.pm
index 59ed0e8b1c..a6d6c786fa 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pack.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pack.pm
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ use warnings;
 use IO::String;
 use JSON::XS qw(decode_json);
 use File::Find;
+use LaTeXML::Util::Pathname;
 
 use base qw(Exporter);
 our @EXPORT = qw(&pack_collection);
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ sub detect_source {
   if ($readme_file = $self->find_file('00README.json')) {
     my $json_str = do {
       local $/ = undef;
-      open(my $README_FH, '<', $readme_file) or
+      pathname_openfile(my $README_FH, '<', $readme_file) or
         (print STDERR "failed to open '$readme_file' for use as input directives: $!. Continuing.\n");
       <$README_FH>;
     } || '';
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ sub detect_source {
   } }
   # I.1.2. Legacy arXiv 00README.XXX
   elsif ($readme_file = $self->find_file('00README.XXX')) {
-    open(my $README_FH, '<', $readme_file) or
+    pathname_openfile(my $README_FH, '<', $readme_file) or
       (print STDERR "failed to open '$readme_file' for use as input directives: $!. Continuing.\n");
     local $/ = "\n";
     my $toplevelfile;
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@ sub detect_source {
           $toplevelfile = $self->full_filename($name);
         } elsif ($directive eq 'ignore') {
           my $ignored_filepath = $self->full_filename($name);
-          unlink($ignored_filepath) if -e $ignored_filepath; } } }
+          pathname_unlink($ignored_filepath) if pathname_test_e($ignored_filepath); } } }
     return $toplevelfile if $toplevelfile; }
 
   # I.2. Without an explicit directive,
@@ -107,8 +108,8 @@ sub detect_source {
     $tex_file = $self->full_filename($tex_file);
     # Open file and read first few bytes to do magic sequence identification
     # note that file will be auto-closed when $FILE_TO_GUESS goes out of scope
-    next unless -e $tex_file;    # skip deleted "ignored" files.
-    open(my $FILE_TO_GUESS, '<', $tex_file) or
+    next unless pathname_test_e($tex_file);    # skip deleted "ignored" files.
+    pathname_openfile(my $FILE_TO_GUESS, '<', $tex_file) or
       (print STDERR "failed to open '$tex_file' to guess its format: $!. Continuing.\n");
     local $/ = "\n";
     my ($maybe_tex, $maybe_tex_priority, $maybe_tex_priority2);
@@ -200,7 +201,7 @@ sub detect_source {
       @files_by_likelihood = @pdf_includes if @pdf_includes; }
     # Special heuristic 3: prefer "best" candidates with a .bbl file
     if (scalar(@files_by_likelihood) > 1) {
-      my @with_bbl = grep { my $base = $_; $base =~ s/\.tex$//; -e "$base.bbl"; } @files_by_likelihood;
+      my @with_bbl = grep { my $base = $_; $base =~ s/\.tex$//; pathname_test_e("$base.bbl"); } @files_by_likelihood;
       @files_by_likelihood = @with_bbl if @with_bbl; }
 # Special heuristic 4 ?!: Sometimes in arXiv the decision is made in an unclear manner
 # (example: see 2112.08935 v1, which has equally good main.tex and bare_adv.tex)
@@ -223,7 +224,7 @@ sub heuristic_check_for_pdftex {
   my @filenames    = @_;
   my @pdf_includes = ();
   for my $tex_file (@filenames) {
-    my $is_open = open(my $TEX_FH, '<', $tex_file);
+    my $is_open = pathname_openfile(my $TEX_FH, '<', $tex_file);
     if (!$is_open) {
       print STDERR "failed to open '$tex_file' to guess its format: $!. Continuing.\n";
       next; }
@@ -340,7 +341,7 @@ sub pack_collection {
     elsif ($whatsout eq 'math') {
       # Math output - least common ancestor of all math in the document
       push @packed_docs, get_math($doc);
-      unlink('LaTeXML.cache'); }
+      pathname_unlink('LaTeXML.cache'); }
     else { push @packed_docs, $doc; } }
   return @packed_docs; }
 
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pack/Dir.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pack/Dir.pm
index ab8869380b..f127fc922d 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pack/Dir.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pack/Dir.pm
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ use strict;
 use warnings;
 use File::Find;
 use File::Spec::Functions qw(catfile);
+use LaTeXML::Util::Pathname;
 
 use base qw(LaTeXML::Util::Pack);
 
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ sub unpack_source {
 sub find_file {
   my ($self, $name) = @_;
   my $filename = $$self{directory} . "/$name";
-  my $found    = -e $filename;
+  my $found    = pathname_test_e($filename);
   return $found && $filename; }
 
 sub full_filename {
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pack/Zip.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pack/Zip.pm
index c15c187983..1f9a938037 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pack/Zip.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pack/Zip.pm
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ sub get_archive {
   my ($directory, $whatsout) = @_;
   # Zip and send back
   my $archive = Archive::Zip->new();
-  opendir(my $dirhandle, $directory)
+  pathname_opendir(my $dirhandle, $directory)
     # TODO: Switch to Error API
     # or Fatal('expected', 'directory', undef,
     # "Expected a directory to archive '$directory':", $@);
@@ -83,8 +83,8 @@ sub get_archive {
   my @entries = grep { /^[^.]/ } readdir($dirhandle);
   closedir $dirhandle;
   my $ext_exclude = $LaTeXML::Util::Pack::ARCHIVE_EXT_EXCLUDE;
-  my @files       = grep { !/$ext_exclude/ && -f pathname_concat($directory, $_) } @entries;
-  my @subdirs     = grep { -d File::Spec->catdir($directory, $_) } @entries;
+  my @files       = grep { !/$ext_exclude/ && pathname_test_f(pathname_concat($directory, $_)) } @entries;
+  my @subdirs     = grep { pathname_test_d(File::Spec->catdir($directory, $_)) } @entries;
  # We want to first add the files instead of simply invoking ->addTree on the top level
  # without ANY file attributes at all,
  # since EPUB is VERY picky about the first entry in the archive starting at byte 38 (file 'mimetype')
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ sub get_archive {
     local $/ = undef;
     my $FH;
     my $pathname = pathname_concat($directory, $file);
-    open $FH, "<", $pathname
+    pathname_openfile($FH, "<", $pathname)
       # TODO: Switch to Error API
       #or Fatal('I/O', $pathname, undef, "File $pathname is not readable.");
       or (print STDERR "Fatal:I/O:$pathname File $pathname is not readable.");
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pathname.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pathname.pm
index 4d857546e7..159243783d 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pathname.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Pathname.pm
@@ -36,6 +36,14 @@ use base qw(Exporter);
 our @EXPORT = qw( &pathname_find &pathname_findall &pathname_kpsewhich
   &pathname_make &pathname_canonical
   &pathname_split &pathname_directory &pathname_name &pathname_type
+  &pathname_test_r &pathname_test_w &pathname_test_x &pathname_test_o
+  &pathname_test_R &pathname_test_W &pathname_test_X &pathname_test_O
+  &pathname_test_e &pathname_test_z &pathname_test_s
+  &pathname_test_f &pathname_test_d &pathname_test_l &pathname_test_p &pathname_test_S &pathname_test_b &pathname_test_c
+  &pathname_test_u &pathname_test_g &pathname_test_k
+  &pathname_test_T &pathname_test_B
+  &pathname_test_M &pathname_test_A &pathname_test_C
+  &pathname_open &pathname_stat &pathname_unlink &pathname_openfile &pathname_opendir
   &pathname_timestamp
   &pathname_concat
   &pathname_relative &pathname_absolute &pathname_to_url
@@ -222,9 +230,53 @@ sub pathname_to_url {
 
 #======================================================================
 # Actual file system operations.
+
+sub pathname_test_r { return -r $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_w { return -w $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_x { return -x $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_o { return -o $_[0]; }
+
+sub pathname_test_R { return -R $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_W { return -W $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_X { return -X $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_O { return -O $_[0]; }
+
+sub pathname_test_e { return -e $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_z { return -z $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_s { return -s $_[0]; }
+
+sub pathname_test_f { return -f $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_d { return -d $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_l { return -l $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_p { return -p $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_S { return -S $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_b { return -b $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_c { return -c $_[0]; }
+
+sub pathname_test_u { return -u $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_g { return -g $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_k { return -k $_[0]; }
+
+sub pathname_test_T { return -T $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_B { return -B $_[0]; }
+
+sub pathname_test_M { return -M $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_A { return -A $_[0]; }
+sub pathname_test_C { return -C $_[0]; }
+
+sub pathname_stat { return stat $_[0]; }
+
+sub pathname_unlink { return unlink(@_); }
+
+sub pathname_openfile {
+  return open($_[0], $_[1], $_[2]); }
+
+sub pathname_opendir {
+  return opendir($_[0], $_[1]); }
+
 sub pathname_timestamp {
   my ($pathname) = @_;
-  return -f $pathname ? (stat($pathname))[9] : 0; }
+  return pathname_test_f($pathname) ? (pathname_stat($pathname))[9] : 0; }
 
 our $CWD = undef;
 # DO NOT use pathname_cwd, unless you also use pathname_chdir to change dirs!!!
@@ -252,7 +304,7 @@ sub pathname_mkdir {
   my (@dirs) = (File::Spec->splitdir($dirs), $last);
   for (my $i = 0 ; $i <= $#dirs ; $i++) {
     my $dir = File::Spec->catpath($volume, File::Spec->catdir(@dirs[0 .. $i]), '');
-    if (!-d $dir) {
+    if (!pathname_test_d($dir)) {
       mkdir($dir) or return; } }
   return $directory; }
 
@@ -263,7 +315,7 @@ sub pathname_copy {
   # If it _needs_ to be copied:
   $source      = pathname_canonical($source);
   $destination = pathname_canonical($destination);
-  if ((!-f $destination) || (pathname_timestamp($source) > pathname_timestamp($destination))) {
+  if (!pathname_test_f($destination) || (pathname_timestamp($source) > pathname_timestamp($destination))) {
     if (my $destdir = pathname_directory($destination)) {
       pathname_mkdir($destdir) or return; }
 ###    if($^O =~ /^(MSWin32|NetWare)$/){ # Windows
@@ -273,7 +325,7 @@ sub pathname_copy {
 ###      system("cp --preserve=timestamps $source $destination")==0 or return; }
     # Hopefully this portably copies, preserving timestamp.
     copy($source, $destination) or return;
-    my ($atime, $mtime) = (stat($source))[8, 9];
+    my ($atime, $mtime) = (pathname_stat($source))[8, 9];
     utime $atime, $mtime, $destination;    # And set the modification time
   }
   return $destination; }
@@ -296,7 +348,7 @@ sub pathname_copy {
 #    was installed, by appending it to the paths.
 
 # This is presumably daemon safe...
-my @INSTALLDIRS = grep { (-f "$_.pm") && (-d $_) }
+my @INSTALLDIRS = grep { pathname_test_f("$_.pm") && pathname_test_d($_) }
   map { pathname_canonical($_ . $SEP . 'LaTeXML') } @INC;    # [CONSTANT]
 
 sub pathname_installation {
@@ -374,7 +426,7 @@ sub candidate_pathnames {
           qr/^\Q$name\E\Q$ext\E$/]); } }
   # Now, combine; precedence to leading directories.
   foreach my $dir (@dirs) {
-    opendir(my $dir_handle, $dir) or next;
+    pathname_opendir(my $dir_handle, $dir) or next;
     my @dir_files = readdir($dir_handle);
     closedir($dir_handle);
     for my $local_file (@dir_files) {
@@ -434,7 +486,7 @@ sub build_kpse_cache {
   my @filters = ();    # Really shouldn't end up empty.
   foreach my $path (split(/$KPATHSEP/, $texpaths)) {
     $path =~ s/^!!//; $path =~ s|//+$|/|;
-    push(@filters, $path) if -d $path; }
+    push(@filters, $path) if pathname_test_d($path); }
   my $filterre = scalar(@filters) && '(?:' . join('|', map { "\Q$_\E"; } @filters) . ')';
   $texmf =~ s/^["']//; $texmf =~ s/["']$//;
   $texmf =~ s/^\s*\\\{(.+?)}\s*$/$1/s;
@@ -443,11 +495,11 @@ sub build_kpse_cache {
   foreach my $dir (@dirs) {
     $dir =~ s/^!!//;
     # Presumably if no ls-R, we can ignore the directory?
-    if (-f "$dir/ls-R") {
+    if (pathname_test_f("$dir/ls-R")) {
       my $LSR;
       my $subdir;
       my $skip = 0;    # whether to skip entries in the current subdirectory.
-      open($LSR, '<', "$dir/ls-R") or die "Cannot read $dir/ls-R: $!";
+      pathname_openfile($LSR, '<', "$dir/ls-R") or die "Cannot read $dir/ls-R: $!";
       while (<$LSR>) {
         chop;
         next if !$_ || (substr($_, 0, 1) eq '%');
diff --git a/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Test.pm b/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Test.pm
index 43be8d555c..a02012ec57 100644
--- a/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Test.pm
+++ b/lib/LaTeXML/Util/Test.pm
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ sub latexml_tests {
   if ($options{texlive_min} && (texlive_version() < $options{texlive_min})) {
     plan skip_all => "Requirement minimal texlive $options{texlive_min} not met.";
     return done_testing(); }
-  if (!opendir($DIR, $directory)) {
+  if (!pathname_opendir($DIR, $directory)) {
     # Can't read directory? Fail (assumed single) test.
     return do_fail($directory, "Couldn't read directory $directory:$!"); }
   else {
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ sub latexml_tests {
         foreach my $name (@core_tests) {
           my $test = "$directory/$name";
         SKIP: {
-            skip("No file $test.xml", 1) unless (-f "$test.xml");
+            skip("No file $test.xml", 1) unless pathname_test_f("$test.xml");
             next unless check_requirements($test, 1, $$requires{'*'}, $$requires{$name});
             latexml_ok("$test.tex", "$test.xml", $test, $options{compare}, $options{core_options}); } }
         # Carry out any post-processing tests
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ sub latexml_tests {
           my $test = "$directory/$name";
         SKIP: {
             skip("No file $test.xml and/or $test-post.xml", 1)
-              unless ((-f "$test.xml") && (-f "$test-post.xml"));
+              unless pathname_test_f("$test.xml") && pathname_test_f("$test-post.xml");
             next unless check_requirements($test, 1, $$requires{'*'}, $$requires{$name});
             latexmlpost_ok("$test.tex", "$test-post.xml", $test); } }
         # Carry out any daemon tests.
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ sub latexml_tests {
           my $test = "$directory/$name";
         SKIP: {
             skip("No file $test.xml", 1)
-              unless (-f "$test.xml");
+              unless pathname_test_f("$test.xml");
             my $ntests = ($directory =~ /runtimes/ ? 1 : 2);
             next unless check_requirements($test, $ntests, $$requires{'*'}, $$requires{$name});
             daemon_ok($test, $directory, $options{generate});
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ sub daemon_ok {
     if (my $teststrings = process_xmlfile("$base.test.xml", $base)) {
       if (my $xmlstrings = process_xmlfile("$base.xml", $base)) {
         is_strings($teststrings, $xmlstrings, $base); } }
-    unlink "$base.test.xml" if -e "$base.test.xml";
+    pathname_unlink("$base.test.xml") if pathname_test_e("$base.test.xml");
   }
   else {
     #TODO: Skip 3 tests
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ sub daemon_ok {
     pathname_chdir($dir);
     system(@invocation);
     pathname_chdir($current_dir);
-    move("$base.test.xml", "$base.xml") if -e "$base.test.xml";
+    move("$base.test.xml", "$base.xml") if pathname_test_e("$base.test.xml");
   }
   return; }
 
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ sub read_options {
   my ($optionfile, $testname) = @_;
   my $opts = [];
   my $OPT;
-  if (open($OPT, "<", $optionfile)) {
+  if (pathname_openfile($OPT, "<", $optionfile)) {
     while (my $line = <$OPT>) {
       next if $line =~ /^#/;
       chomp($line);
@@ -329,8 +329,8 @@ sub get_filecontent {
   my ($path, $testname) = @_;
   my $IN;
   my @lines;
-  if (-e $path) {
-    if (!open($IN, "<", $path)) {
+  if (pathname_test_e($path)) {
+    if (!pathname_openfile($IN, "<", $path)) {
       do_fail($testname, "Could not open $path"); }
     else {
       { local $\ = undef;
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ sub texlive_version {
   my $tex;
   # If kpsewhich specified, look for tex next to it
   if (my $path = $ENV{LATEXML_KPSEWHICH}) {
-    if (($path =~ s/kpsewhich/tex/i) && (-X $path)) {
+    if ($path =~ s/kpsewhich/tex/i && pathname_test_X($path)) {
       $tex = $path; } }
   if (!$tex) {    # Else look for executable
     $tex = which("tex"); }