diff --git a/src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-filesystem-ftpsockets.php b/src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-filesystem-ftpsockets.php
index 728385b70b..dedb30cad9 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-filesystem-ftpsockets.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-filesystem-ftpsockets.php
@@ -219,8 +219,10 @@ class WP_Filesystem_ftpsockets extends WP_Filesystem_Base {
 		return $this->ftp->mdel($file);
 	}
 
-	function exists($file) {
-		return $this->ftp->is_exists($file);
+	function exists( $file ) {
+		$list = $this->ftp->nlist( $file );
+		return !empty( $list ); //empty list = no file, so invert.
+		// return $this->ftp->is_exists($file); has issues with ABOR+426 responses on the ncFTPd server
 	}
 
 	function is_file($file) {