diff --git a/src/dvc_data/index/index.py b/src/dvc_data/index/index.py
index 806039fa..01c55f42 100644
--- a/src/dvc_data/index/index.py
+++ b/src/dvc_data/index/index.py
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 from collections import defaultdict
 from collections.abc import Iterator, MutableMapping
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Callable, Optional, cast
+from itertools import repeat
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Callable, Optional, Union, cast
 
 import attrs
 from fsspec import Callback
@@ -17,6 +18,8 @@
 from dvc_data.hashfile.tree import Tree
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Iterable
+
     from dvc_objects.fs.base import FileSystem
 
     from dvc_data.hashfile.db import HashFileDB
@@ -240,7 +243,7 @@ def exists(self, entry: "DataIndexEntry", refresh: bool = False) -> bool:
         finally:
             self.index.commit()
 
-    def bulk_exists(  # noqa: C901
+    def bulk_exists(  # noqa: C901, PLR0912
         self,
         entries: list["DataIndexEntry"],
         refresh: bool = False,
@@ -274,17 +277,24 @@ def bulk_exists(  # noqa: C901
             _, path = self.get(entry)
             path_to_entries[path].append(entry)
 
+        info_results: Union[
+            Iterable[Union[Exception, Optional[dict[str, Any]]]], None
+        ] = None
         try:
             self.fs.ls(self.odb.path)  # check for fs access
-        except FileNotFoundError:
+        except FileNotFoundError as exc:
+            info_results = repeat(exc, len(path_to_entries))
+            callback.relative_update(len(entries_with_hash))
+        except NotImplementedError:
+            # some filesystems don't implement ls
             pass
-
-        info_results = self.fs.info(
-            list(path_to_entries),
-            batch_size=jobs,
-            return_exceptions=True,
-            callback=callback,
-        )
+        if info_results is None:
+            info_results = self.fs.info(
+                list(path_to_entries),
+                batch_size=jobs,
+                return_exceptions=True,
+                callback=callback,
+            )
 
         for (path, _entries), info in zip(path_to_entries.items(), info_results):
             if isinstance(info, Exception) and not isinstance(info, FileNotFoundError):
@@ -302,6 +312,7 @@ def bulk_exists(  # noqa: C901
             results.update(dict.fromkeys(_entries, exists))
 
         if self.index is not None:
+            logger.debug("Committing index results")
             self.index.commit()
 
         return results
diff --git a/tests/index/test_storage.py b/tests/index/test_storage.py
index 2b832aa4..5988e25e 100644
--- a/tests/index/test_storage.py
+++ b/tests/index/test_storage.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import pytest
 from dvc_objects.fs.local import LocalFileSystem
 
+from dvc_data.hashfile.db import HashFileDB
 from dvc_data.hashfile.hash_info import HashInfo
 from dvc_data.hashfile.meta import Meta
 from dvc_data.index import (
@@ -201,6 +202,29 @@ def test_duplicate_hashes_not_exist(self, odb, use_index, refresh):
         result = storage.bulk_exists(entries, refresh=refresh)
         assert result == {entries[0]: False, entries[1]: False}
 
+    def test_bulk_check_with_ls_not_implemented(self, tmp_path_factory):
+        class NonTraversableFileSystem(LocalFileSystem):
+            def ls(self, *args, **kwargs):
+                raise NotImplementedError
+
+        index = DataIndex()
+        path = tmp_path_factory.mktemp("odb")
+        odb = HashFileDB(fs=NonTraversableFileSystem(), path=path)
+        storage = ObjectStorage(key=(), odb=odb, index=index)
+        entries = [
+            DataIndexEntry(
+                key=("foo",),
+                hash_info=HashInfo("md5", "d3b07384d113edec49eaa6238ad5ff00"),
+            ),
+            DataIndexEntry(
+                key=("bar",),
+                hash_info=HashInfo("md5", "c157a79031e1c40f85931829bc5fc552"),
+            ),
+        ]
+
+        result = storage.bulk_exists(entries, refresh=True)
+        assert result == {entries[0]: False, entries[1]: False}
+
 
 class TestStorageMappingBulkExists:
     def test_bulk_cache_exists_empty(self, odb):