diff --git a/commitizen/config/__init__.py b/commitizen/config/__init__.py
index ae980af9c0..b9a530e5fd 100644
--- a/commitizen/config/__init__.py
+++ b/commitizen/config/__init__.py
@@ -13,23 +13,17 @@ def _resolve_config_candidates() -> list[BaseConfig]:
     git_project_root = git.find_git_project_root()
     cfg_search_paths = [Path(".")]
 
-    if git_project_root and not cfg_search_paths[0].samefile(git_project_root):
+    if git_project_root and cfg_search_paths[0].resolve() != git_project_root.resolve():
         cfg_search_paths.append(git_project_root)
 
-    # The following algorithm is ugly, but we need to ensure that the order of the candidates are preserved before v5.
-    # Also, the number of possible config files is limited, so the complexity is not a problem.
     candidates: list[BaseConfig] = []
     for dir in cfg_search_paths:
         for filename in defaults.CONFIG_FILES:
             out_path = dir / Path(filename)
-            if (
-                out_path.exists()
-                and not any(
-                    out_path.samefile(candidate.path) for candidate in candidates
-                )
-                and not (conf := _create_config_from_path(out_path)).is_empty_config
-            ):
-                candidates.append(conf)
+            if out_path.is_file():
+                conf = _create_config_from_path(out_path)
+                if conf.contains_commitizen_section():
+                    candidates.append(conf)
     return candidates
 
 
@@ -43,10 +37,10 @@ def _create_config_from_path(path: Path) -> BaseConfig:
 def read_cfg(filepath: str | None = None) -> BaseConfig:
     if filepath is not None:
         conf_path = Path(filepath)
-        if not conf_path.exists():
+        if not conf_path.is_file():
             raise ConfigFileNotFound()
         conf = _create_config_from_path(conf_path)
-        if conf.is_empty_config:
+        if not conf.contains_commitizen_section():
             raise ConfigFileIsEmpty()
         return conf
 
diff --git a/commitizen/config/base_config.py b/commitizen/config/base_config.py
index 98270915d8..f100cf9953 100644
--- a/commitizen/config/base_config.py
+++ b/commitizen/config/base_config.py
@@ -17,10 +17,16 @@
 
 class BaseConfig:
     def __init__(self) -> None:
-        self.is_empty_config = False
         self._settings: Settings = DEFAULT_SETTINGS.copy()
         self._path: Path | None = None
 
+    def contains_commitizen_section(self) -> bool:
+        """Check if the config file contains a commitizen section.
+
+        The implementation is different for each config file type.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+
     @property
     def settings(self) -> Settings:
         return self._settings
diff --git a/commitizen/config/json_config.py b/commitizen/config/json_config.py
index 860ca8ed5a..3951c52854 100644
--- a/commitizen/config/json_config.py
+++ b/commitizen/config/json_config.py
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ def __init__(self, *, data: bytes | str, path: Path) -> None:
         self.path = path
         self._parse_setting(data)
 
+    def contains_commitizen_section(self) -> bool:
+        with self.path.open("rb") as json_file:
+            config_doc = json.load(json_file)
+        return config_doc.get("commitizen") is not None
+
     def init_empty_config_content(self) -> None:
         with smart_open(
             self.path, "a", encoding=self._settings["encoding"]
@@ -32,7 +37,7 @@ def init_empty_config_content(self) -> None:
             json.dump({"commitizen": {}}, json_file)
 
     def set_key(self, key: str, value: object) -> Self:
-        with open(self.path, "rb") as f:
+        with self.path.open("rb") as f:
             config_doc = json.load(f)
 
         config_doc["commitizen"][key] = value
@@ -59,4 +64,4 @@ def _parse_setting(self, data: bytes | str) -> None:
         try:
             self.settings.update(doc["commitizen"])
         except KeyError:
-            self.is_empty_config = True
+            pass
diff --git a/commitizen/config/toml_config.py b/commitizen/config/toml_config.py
index b10cf9bd3e..d91fcbdfcb 100644
--- a/commitizen/config/toml_config.py
+++ b/commitizen/config/toml_config.py
@@ -26,6 +26,15 @@ def __init__(self, *, data: bytes | str, path: Path) -> None:
         self.path = path
         self._parse_setting(data)
 
+    def contains_commitizen_section(self) -> bool:
+        with self.path.open("rb") as f:
+            config_doc = parse(f.read())
+        tool = config_doc.get("tool")
+        if tool is None:
+            return False
+        commitizen = tool.get("commitizen")
+        return commitizen is not None
+
     def init_empty_config_content(self) -> None:
         config_doc = TOMLDocument()
         if os.path.isfile(self.path):
@@ -67,4 +76,4 @@ def _parse_setting(self, data: bytes | str) -> None:
         try:
             self.settings.update(doc["tool"]["commitizen"])  # type: ignore[index,typeddict-item] # TODO: fix this
         except exceptions.NonExistentKey:
-            self.is_empty_config = True
+            pass
diff --git a/commitizen/config/yaml_config.py b/commitizen/config/yaml_config.py
index 58722d0f60..dd1c2c6308 100644
--- a/commitizen/config/yaml_config.py
+++ b/commitizen/config/yaml_config.py
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ def init_empty_config_content(self) -> None:
         ) as json_file:
             yaml.dump({"commitizen": {}}, json_file, explicit_start=True)
 
+    def contains_commitizen_section(self) -> bool:
+        with self.path.open("rb") as yaml_file:
+            config_doc = yaml.load(yaml_file, Loader=yaml.FullLoader)
+        return config_doc.get("commitizen") is not None
+
     def _parse_setting(self, data: bytes | str) -> None:
         """We expect to have a section in cz.yaml looking like
 
@@ -40,8 +45,6 @@ def _parse_setting(self, data: bytes | str) -> None:
           name: cz_conventional_commits
         ```
         """
-        import yaml.scanner
-
         try:
             doc = yaml.safe_load(data)
         except yaml.YAMLError as e:
@@ -50,7 +53,7 @@ def _parse_setting(self, data: bytes | str) -> None:
         try:
             self.settings.update(doc["commitizen"])
         except (KeyError, TypeError):
-            self.is_empty_config = True
+            pass
 
     def set_key(self, key: str, value: object) -> Self:
         with open(self.path, "rb") as yaml_file: