diff --git a/src/wallet/walletutil.cpp b/src/wallet/walletutil.cpp
--- a/src/wallet/walletutil.cpp
+++ b/src/wallet/walletutil.cpp
@@ -112,5 +112,10 @@
     : m_name(name), m_path(fs::absolute(name, GetWalletDir())) {}
 
 bool WalletLocation::Exists() const {
-    return fs::symlink_status(m_path).type() != fs::file_not_found;
+    fs::path path = m_path;
+    // For the default wallet, check specifically for the wallet.dat file
+    if (m_name.empty()) {
+        path = fs::absolute("wallet.dat", m_path);
+    }
+    return fs::symlink_status(path).type() != fs::file_not_found;
 }