diff --git a/wp-includes/blocks.php b/wp-includes/blocks.php
index 5aeb329d60..584493fd5b 100644
--- a/wp-includes/blocks.php
+++ b/wp-includes/blocks.php
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ function register_block_type_from_metadata( $file_or_folder, $args = array() ) {
 				remove_block_asset_path_prefix( $metadata['render'] )
 			)
 		);
-		if ( file_exists( $template_path ) ) {
+		if ( $template_path ) {
 			/**
 			 * Renders the block on the server.
 			 *
diff --git a/wp-includes/functions.php b/wp-includes/functions.php
index 3ec8523a90..36146132d7 100644
--- a/wp-includes/functions.php
+++ b/wp-includes/functions.php
@@ -4528,7 +4528,8 @@ function wp_check_jsonp_callback( $callback ) {
 function wp_json_file_decode( $filename, $options = array() ) {
 	$result   = null;
 	$filename = wp_normalize_path( realpath( $filename ) );
-	if ( ! file_exists( $filename ) ) {
+
+	if ( ! $filename ) {
 		trigger_error(
 			sprintf(
 				/* translators: %s: Path to the JSON file. */
diff --git a/wp-includes/version.php b/wp-includes/version.php
index 9759e331d2..5ce081a4bc 100644
--- a/wp-includes/version.php
+++ b/wp-includes/version.php
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
  *
  * @global string $wp_version
  */
-$wp_version = '6.1-beta1-54308';
+$wp_version = '6.1-beta1-54309';
 
 /**
  * Holds the WordPress DB revision, increments when changes are made to the WordPress DB schema.