diff --git a/main/src/hadd.cxx b/main/src/hadd.cxx
index 89df5631919eb..7cf380c75ac86 100644
--- a/main/src/hadd.cxx
+++ b/main/src/hadd.cxx
@@ -614,6 +614,20 @@ static Int_t ParseFilterFile(const std::optional<std::string> &filterFileName,
    return 0;
 }
 
+static bool FilesAreEquivalent(std::string_view source, std::string_view target)
+{
+   const bool sourceIsLocal = source.find_first_of("://") == std::string_view::npos;
+   const bool targetIsLocal = target.find_first_of("://") == std::string_view::npos;
+   if (sourceIsLocal != targetIsLocal)
+      return false;
+
+   // We cannot use std::filesystem functions for remote files.
+   if (!sourceIsLocal)
+      return source == target;
+
+   return std::filesystem::exists(target) && std::filesystem::equivalent(source, target);
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
    InitLog("hadd", kDefaultHaddVerbosity);
@@ -718,7 +732,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
                            << (argv[a] + 1) << std::endl;
                      if (!args.fSkipErrors)
                         return 1;
-                  } else if (std::filesystem::exists(targetname) && std::filesystem::equivalent(line, targetname)) {
+                  } else if (FilesAreEquivalent(line, targetname)) {
                      Err() << "file " << line << " cannot be both the target and an input!\n";
                      if (!args.fSkipErrors)
                         return 1;
@@ -729,12 +743,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
             }
          }
       } else {
-         const std::string line = argv[a];
-         if (gSystem->AccessPathName(line.c_str(), kReadPermission) == kTRUE) {
+         const char *line = argv[a];
+         if (gSystem->AccessPathName(line, kReadPermission) == kTRUE) {
             Err() << "could not validate argument \"" << line << "\" as input file " << std::endl;
             if (!args.fSkipErrors)
                return 1;
-         } else if (std::filesystem::exists(targetname) && std::filesystem::equivalent(line, targetname)) {
+         } else if (FilesAreEquivalent(line, targetname)) {
             Err() << "file " << line << " cannot be both the target and an input!\n";
             if (!args.fSkipErrors)
                return 1;
diff --git a/roottest/root/io/hadd/CMakeLists.txt b/roottest/root/io/hadd/CMakeLists.txt
index 486b033b07183..2efff2d957cae 100644
--- a/roottest/root/io/hadd/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/roottest/root/io/hadd/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -251,8 +251,22 @@ ROOTTEST_ADD_TEST(test_hadd_args_quieter
 ################################################################
 configure_file(file1_20706.root . COPYONLY)
 configure_file(file2_20706.root . COPYONLY)
+configure_file(filelist_20872.txt . COPYONLY)
 
 ROOTTEST_ADD_TEST(test_hadd_regr_20706
                   PRECMD ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E rm -f merged_20706.root
                   COMMAND ${ROOT_hadd_CMD} -f merged_20706.root file1_20706.root file2_20706.root
 )
+
+if(davix AND NOT MSVC)
+ROOTTEST_ADD_TEST(test_hadd_regr_20872
+                  PRECMD ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E rm -f merged_20872.root
+                  COMMAND ${ROOT_hadd_CMD} -f merged_20872.root root://eospublic.cern.ch//eos/root-eos/h1/dstarmb.root
+)
+
+ROOTTEST_ADD_TEST(test_hadd_regr_20872_2
+                  PRECMD ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E rm -f merged_20872_2.root
+                  COMMAND ${ROOT_hadd_CMD} -f root://eospublic.cern.ch//eos/root-eos/h1/dstarmb.root @filelist_20872.txt
+                  PASSREGEX "root://eospublic.cern.ch//eos/root-eos/h1/dstarmb.root cannot be both the target and an input!"
+)
+endif()
diff --git a/roottest/root/io/hadd/filelist_20872.txt b/roottest/root/io/hadd/filelist_20872.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e8e923f71578f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roottest/root/io/hadd/filelist_20872.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+root://eospublic.cern.ch//eos/root-eos/h1/dstarmb.root
+root://eospublic.cern.ch//eos/root-eos/h1/dstarmb.root