clearstatcache() not working.

Maybe I am doing something wrong. I can't seem to clear status of a files_exists() finction using clearstatcache(). In this particular script, the $file may or may not exist depending on what is happening in other background applications. For some reason, even when the while it's gone file_exists still returns true. What gives? Is there something I need to configure in php?

//Clear cache
clearstatcache();

//Set the path

$file = "/path/to/file";


//Is the file still there?

if (file_exists($file)) {

....Do Something;



} else { ..Do Something else.}