diff --git a/niwidgets/exampledata.py b/niwidgets/exampledata.py
index 367ac3e..453069b 100644
--- a/niwidgets/exampledata.py
+++ b/niwidgets/exampledata.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 try:
     # on >3 this ships by default
     from pathlib import Path
-except ModuleNotFoundError:
+except ImportError:
     # on 2.7 this should work
     try:
         from pathlib2 import Path
diff --git a/niwidgets/niwidget_surface.py b/niwidgets/niwidget_surface.py
index 26312db..ce9a3aa 100644
--- a/niwidgets/niwidget_surface.py
+++ b/niwidgets/niwidget_surface.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 try:
     # on >3 this ships by default
     from pathlib import Path
-except ModuleNotFoundError:
+except ImportError:
     # on 2.7 this should work
     try:
         from pathlib2 import Path
diff --git a/niwidgets/niwidget_volume.py b/niwidgets/niwidget_volume.py
index 462024f..fa31ecd 100644
--- a/niwidgets/niwidget_volume.py
+++ b/niwidgets/niwidget_volume.py
@@ -10,13 +10,13 @@
 try:
     # on >3 this ships by default
     from pathlib import Path
-except ModuleNotFoundError:
+except ImportError:
     # on 2.7 this should work
     try:
         from pathlib2 import Path
-    except ModuleNotFoundError:
-        raise ModuleNotFoundError('On python 2.7, niwidgets requires '
-                                  'pathlib2 to be installed.')
+    except ImportError:
+        raise ImportError('On python 2.7, niwidgets requires '
+                          'pathlib2 to be installed.')
 
 
 class NiftiWidget:
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ def __init__(self, filename):
         if hasattr(filename, 'get_data'):
             self.data = filename
         else:
-            filename = Path(filename).resolve()
             if not filename.is_file():
                 raise OSError('File ' + filename.name + ' not found.')