diff --git a/src/uu/sort/src/check.rs b/src/uu/sort/src/check.rs
index 01b5a25b5..d3b9d6669 100644
--- a/src/uu/sort/src/check.rs
+++ b/src/uu/sort/src/check.rs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ use std::{
 ///
 /// The code we should exit with.
 pub fn check(path: &str, settings: &GlobalSettings) -> i32 {
-    let file = open(path).expect("failed to open input file");
+    let file = open(path);
     let (recycled_sender, recycled_receiver) = sync_channel(2);
     let (loaded_sender, loaded_receiver) = sync_channel(2);
     thread::spawn({
diff --git a/src/uu/sort/src/merge.rs b/src/uu/sort/src/merge.rs
index 48d48ad40..696353829 100644
--- a/src/uu/sort/src/merge.rs
+++ b/src/uu/sort/src/merge.rs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ pub fn merge<'a>(files: &[impl AsRef<OsStr>], settings: &'a GlobalSettings) -> F
     let (request_sender, request_receiver) = channel();
     let mut reader_files = Vec::with_capacity(files.len());
     let mut loaded_receivers = Vec::with_capacity(files.len());
-    for (file_number, file) in files.iter().filter_map(open).enumerate() {
+    for (file_number, file) in files.iter().map(open).enumerate() {
         let (sender, receiver) = sync_channel(2);
         loaded_receivers.push(receiver);
         reader_files.push(ReaderFile {
diff --git a/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs b/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs
index 77be78390..0efce00e6 100644
--- a/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs
+++ b/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs
@@ -955,7 +955,7 @@ pub fn uumain(args: impl uucore::Args) -> i32 {
 
         let mut files = Vec::new();
         for path in &files0_from {
-            let reader = open(path.as_str()).expect("Could not read from file specified.");
+            let reader = open(path.as_str());
             let buf_reader = BufReader::new(reader);
             for line in buf_reader.split(b'\0').flatten() {
                 files.push(
@@ -1116,7 +1116,7 @@ fn exec(files: &[String], settings: &GlobalSettings) -> i32 {
         }
         return check::check(files.first().unwrap(), settings);
     } else {
-        let mut lines = files.iter().filter_map(open);
+        let mut lines = files.iter().map(open);
 
         ext_sort(&mut lines, &settings);
     }
@@ -1413,18 +1413,17 @@ fn print_sorted<'a, T: Iterator<Item = &'a Line<'a>>>(iter: T, settings: &Global
 }
 
 // from cat.rs
-fn open(path: impl AsRef<OsStr>) -> Option<Box<dyn Read + Send>> {
+fn open(path: impl AsRef<OsStr>) -> Box<dyn Read + Send> {
     let path = path.as_ref();
     if path == "-" {
         let stdin = stdin();
-        return Some(Box::new(stdin) as Box<dyn Read + Send>);
+        return Box::new(stdin) as Box<dyn Read + Send>;
     }
 
     match File::open(Path::new(path)) {
-        Ok(f) => Some(Box::new(f) as Box<dyn Read + Send>),
+        Ok(f) => Box::new(f) as Box<dyn Read + Send>,
         Err(e) => {
-            show_error!("{0:?}: {1}", path, e.to_string());
-            None
+            crash!(2, "cannot read: {0:?}: {1}", path, e);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs b/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs
index 624c002d0..3c0af259f 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs
@@ -4,14 +4,14 @@ fn test_helper(file_name: &str, possible_args: &[&str]) {
     for args in possible_args {
         new_ucmd!()
             .arg(format!("{}.txt", file_name))
-            .args(&args.split(' ').collect::<Vec<&str>>())
+            .args(&args.split_whitespace().collect::<Vec<&str>>())
             .succeeds()
             .stdout_is_fixture(format!("{}.expected", file_name));
 
         new_ucmd!()
             .arg(format!("{}.txt", file_name))
             .arg("--debug")
-            .args(&args.split(' ').collect::<Vec<&str>>())
+            .args(&args.split_whitespace().collect::<Vec<&str>>())
             .succeeds()
             .stdout_is_fixture(format!("{}.expected.debug", file_name));
     }
@@ -723,3 +723,17 @@ fn test_trailing_separator() {
         .succeeds()
         .stdout_is("aax\naaa\n");
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn test_nonexistent_file() {
+    new_ucmd!()
+        .arg("nonexistent.txt")
+        .fails()
+        .status_code(2)
+        .stderr_only(
+            #[cfg(not(windows))]
+            "sort: cannot read: \"nonexistent.txt\": No such file or directory (os error 2)",
+            #[cfg(windows)]
+            "sort: cannot read: \"nonexistent.txt\": The system cannot find the file specified. (os error 2)",
+        );
+}