diff --git a/packages/kbn-es/src/utils/extract_config_files.js b/packages/kbn-es/src/utils/extract_config_files.js
index 1ee4ee887fd31..7ad75dcbbf340 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-es/src/utils/extract_config_files.js
+++ b/packages/kbn-es/src/utils/extract_config_files.js
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ exports.extractConfigFiles = function extractConfigFiles(config, dest, options =
 };
 
 function isFile(dest = '') {
-  return path.isAbsolute(dest) && path.extname(dest).length > 0;
+  return path.isAbsolute(dest) && path.extname(dest).length > 0 && fs.existsSync(dest);
 }
 
 function copyFileSync(src, dest) {
diff --git a/packages/kbn-es/src/utils/extract_config_files.test.js b/packages/kbn-es/src/utils/extract_config_files.test.js
index 0c417536878db..4d47f08cb1345 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-es/src/utils/extract_config_files.test.js
+++ b/packages/kbn-es/src/utils/extract_config_files.test.js
@@ -47,13 +47,29 @@ test('copies file', () => {
   expect(fs.writeFileSync.mock.calls[0][0]).toEqual('/es/config/foo.yml');
 });
 
+test('ignores file which does not exist', () => {
+  fs.existsSync = () => false;
+  extractConfigFiles(['path=/data/foo.yml'], '/es');
+
+  expect(fs.readFileSync).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  expect(fs.writeFileSync).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+});
+
 test('ignores non-paths', () => {
   const config = extractConfigFiles(['foo=bar', 'foo.bar=baz'], '/es');
 
   expect(config).toEqual(['foo=bar', 'foo.bar=baz']);
 });
 
+test('keeps regular expressions intact', () => {
+  fs.existsSync = () => false;
+  const config = extractConfigFiles(['foo=bar', 'foo.bar=/https?://127.0.0.1(:[0-9]+)?/'], '/es');
+
+  expect(config).toEqual(['foo=bar', 'foo.bar=/https?://127.0.0.1(:[0-9]+)?/']);
+});
+
 test('ignores directories', () => {
+  fs.existsSync = () => true;
   const config = extractConfigFiles(['path=/data/foo.yml', 'foo.bar=/data/bar'], '/es');
 
   expect(config).toEqual(['path=foo.yml', 'foo.bar=/data/bar']);