diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 739f87db..e27e172f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+10.1.1
+======
+
+* [FIX] Add check for the existence of ssh control path directory
+* [FIX] Handle is_installed for rpm package when rpm database is corrupted
+* [FIX] Fix service.exists
+
 10.1.0
 ======
 
diff --git a/images/debian_bookworm/Dockerfile b/images/debian_bookworm/Dockerfile
index 33584c00..8fc65c15 100644
--- a/images/debian_bookworm/Dockerfile
+++ b/images/debian_bookworm/Dockerfile
@@ -66,7 +66,12 @@ RUN /v/bin/pip install -U pip
 RUN /v/bin/pip install 'requests==2.30.0'
 
 # install salt
-RUN python3 -m pip install --break-system-packages --no-cache salt
+ARG _BUILD_DEPS="gcc g++ libc6-dev python3-dev"
+RUN apt update && apt install -y $_BUILD_DEPS && \
+    python3 -m pip install --break-system-packages --no-cache salt && \
+    apt -y purge $_BUILD_DEPS && \
+    apt -y autoremove --purge && \
+    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 ENV LANG fr_FR.ISO-8859-15
 ENV LANGUAGE fr_FR
diff --git a/test/test_modules.py b/test/test_modules.py
index 3106479f..23a1f2f2 100644
--- a/test/test_modules.py
+++ b/test/test_modules.py
@@ -59,6 +59,17 @@ def test_held_package(host):
     assert python.version.startswith("3.11.")
 
 
+@pytest.mark.destructive
+@pytest.mark.testinfra_hosts("docker://rockylinux9")
+def test_rpmdb_corrupted(host):
+    host.check_output("dd if=/dev/zero of=/var/lib/rpm/rpmdb.sqlite bs=1024 count=1")
+    with pytest.raises(RuntimeError) as excinfo:
+        host.package("zsh").is_installed
+    assert (
+        "Could not check if RPM package 'zsh' is installed. error: sqlite failure:"
+    ) in str(excinfo.value)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.testinfra_hosts("docker://rockylinux9")
 def test_non_default_package_tool(host):
     # Make non default pkg tool binary present
diff --git a/testinfra/backend/ssh.py b/testinfra/backend/ssh.py
index a43d4a7f..aae144d5 100644
--- a/testinfra/backend/ssh.py
+++ b/testinfra/backend/ssh.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ def __init__(
         ssh_config: Optional[str] = None,
         ssh_identity_file: Optional[str] = None,
         timeout: int = 10,
-        controlpath: str = "",
+        controlpath: Optional[str] = None,
         controlpersist: int = 60,
         ssh_extra_args: Optional[str] = None,
         *args: Any,
diff --git a/testinfra/modules/package.py b/testinfra/modules/package.py
index 39ef248d..f9f93515 100644
--- a/testinfra/modules/package.py
+++ b/testinfra/modules/package.py
@@ -165,7 +165,15 @@ def version(self):
 class RpmPackage(Package):
     @property
     def is_installed(self):
-        return self.run_test("rpm -q %s", self.name).rc == 0
+        result = self.run_test("rpm -q --quiet %s 2>&1", self.name)
+        if result.succeeded:
+            return True
+        elif result.failed and result.stdout == "":
+            return False
+        else:
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                f"Could not check if RPM package '{self.name}' is installed. {result.stdout}"
+            )
 
     @property
     def version(self):
diff --git a/testinfra/modules/service.py b/testinfra/modules/service.py
index 413b2433..9a3d704a 100644
--- a/testinfra/modules/service.py
+++ b/testinfra/modules/service.py
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ def _has_systemd_suffix(self):
 
     @property
     def exists(self):
-        cmd = self.run_test('systemctl list-unit-files | grep -q"^%s"', self.name)
+        cmd = self.run_test('systemctl list-unit-files | grep -q "^%s"', self.name)
         return cmd.rc == 0
 
     @property
diff --git a/testinfra/utils/ansible_runner.py b/testinfra/utils/ansible_runner.py
index 084c03b6..dc315141 100644
--- a/testinfra/utils/ansible_runner.py
+++ b/testinfra/utils/ansible_runner.py
@@ -187,13 +187,18 @@ def get_config(
 
     control_path = config.get("ssh_connection", "control_path", fallback="", raw=True)
     if control_path:
-        directory = config.get(
+        control_path_dir = config.get(
             "persistent_connection", "control_path_dir", fallback="~/.ansible/cp"
         )
-        control_path = control_path % ({"directory": directory})  # noqa: S001
-        # restore original "%%"
-        control_path = control_path.replace("%", "%%")
-        kwargs["controlpath"] = control_path
+        control_path_dir = os.path.expanduser(control_path_dir)
+        control_path_dir = os.path.normpath(control_path_dir)
+
+        if os.path.isdir(control_path_dir):
+            control_path = control_path % (  # noqa: S001
+                {"directory": control_path_dir}
+            )
+            control_path = control_path.replace("%", "%%")  # restore original "%%"
+            kwargs["controlpath"] = control_path
 
     spec = "{}://".format(connection)