diff --git a/pynxtools/dataconverter/readers/mpes/reader.py b/pynxtools/dataconverter/readers/mpes/reader.py
index fce988f76..ca8315cea 100644
--- a/pynxtools/dataconverter/readers/mpes/reader.py
+++ b/pynxtools/dataconverter/readers/mpes/reader.py
@@ -198,20 +198,6 @@ def handle_h5_and_json_file(file_paths, objects):
                 f"but {file_path} does not match.",
             )
 
-        if not os.path.exists(file_path):
-            file_path = os.path.join(
-                os.path.dirname(__file__),
-                "..",
-                "..",
-                "..",
-                "..",
-                "tests",
-                "data",
-                "dataconverter",
-                "readers",
-                "mpes",
-                file_path,
-            )
         if not os.path.exists(file_path):
             raise FileNotFoundError(
                 errno.ENOENT,
@@ -252,7 +238,7 @@ def _getattr(obj, attr):
 
     if "index" in attr:
         axis = attr.split(".")[0]
-        return str(obj.dims.index(f"{axis}"))
+        return obj.dims.index(f"{axis}")
 
     return reduce(_getattr, [obj] + attr.split("."))