diff --git a/source/net/yacy/cora/document/id/MultiProtocolURL.java b/source/net/yacy/cora/document/id/MultiProtocolURL.java
index e9a46fc91..a3404bec0 100644
--- a/source/net/yacy/cora/document/id/MultiProtocolURL.java
+++ b/source/net/yacy/cora/document/id/MultiProtocolURL.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.net.InetAddress;
 import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.net.URLDecoder;
+import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.BitSet;
@@ -2578,6 +2579,32 @@ public class MultiProtocolURL implements Serializable, Comparable<MultiProtocolU
         return null;
     }
 
+    public boolean exists(final ClientIdentification.Agent agent) {
+        try {
+            if (isFile()) {
+                return getFSFile().exists();
+            }
+            if (isSMB()) {
+                return getSmbFile().exists();
+            }
+            if (isFTP()) {
+                final FTPClient client = new FTPClient();
+                client.open(this.host, this.port < 0 ? 21 : this.port);
+                return client.fileSize(path) > 0;
+            }
+            if (isHTTP() || isHTTPS()) {
+                    try (final HTTPClient client = new HTTPClient(agent)) {
+                        client.setHost(getHost());
+                        org.apache.http.HttpResponse response = client.HEADResponse(this, true);
+                        return response != null && (response.getStatusLine().getStatusCode() == 200 || response.getStatusLine().getStatusCode() == 301);
+                    }
+            }
+            return false;
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Read fully the source, close it and return its content as a bytes array.
      * @param source the source to read
diff --git a/source/net/yacy/document/importer/ZimImporter.java b/source/net/yacy/document/importer/ZimImporter.java
index a96a79b18..26f36f787 100644
--- a/source/net/yacy/document/importer/ZimImporter.java
+++ b/source/net/yacy/document/importer/ZimImporter.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.TreeMap;
 
 import net.yacy.cora.document.id.DigestURL;
+import net.yacy.cora.protocol.ClientIdentification;
 import net.yacy.cora.protocol.RequestHeader;
 import net.yacy.cora.protocol.ResponseHeader;
 import net.yacy.cora.util.ConcurrentLog;
@@ -84,6 +85,12 @@ public class ZimImporter extends Thread implements Importer {
             this.reader = new ZIMReader(this.file);
             this.guessedSource = getSource(this.reader);
 
+            // verify the source
+            DirectoryEntry mainEntry = this.reader.getMainDirectoryEntry();
+            DigestURL url = new DigestURL(mainEntry.url);
+            if (!url.exists(ClientIdentification.browserAgent)) return; 
+
+            // read all documents
             for (int i = 0; i < this.file.header_entryCount; i++) {
                 if (this.abort) break;
                 DirectoryEntry de = this.reader.getDirectoryInfo(i);
@@ -304,7 +311,9 @@ public class ZimImporter extends Thread implements Importer {
                 System.out.println("guessed domain: " + guessDomainName(f.getName()));
                 String source = getSource(r);
                 System.out.println("guessed Source: " + source);
-                System.out.println("guessed main article: " + guessURL(source, de));
+                String mainURL = guessURL(source, de);
+                System.out.println("guessed main article: " + mainURL);
+                System.out.println("main article exists: " + new DigestURL(mainURL).exists(ClientIdentification.browserAgent));
                 System.out.println();
             } catch (IOException e) {
                 e.printStackTrace();