diff --git a/deepface/commons/image_utils.py b/deepface/commons/image_utils.py
index b72ce0b4..868eaf25 100644
--- a/deepface/commons/image_utils.py
+++ b/deepface/commons/image_utils.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # built-in dependencies
 import os
 import io
-from typing import List, Union, Tuple
+from typing import Generator, List, Union, Tuple
 import hashlib
 import base64
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@
 from werkzeug.datastructures import FileStorage
 
 
+IMAGE_EXTS = {".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png"}
+PIL_EXTS = {"jpeg", "png"}
+
+
 def list_images(path: str) -> List[str]:
     """
     List images in a given path
@@ -25,17 +29,29 @@ def list_images(path: str) -> List[str]:
     images = []
     for r, _, f in os.walk(path):
         for file in f:
-            exact_path = os.path.join(r, file)
-
-            ext_lower = os.path.splitext(exact_path)[-1].lower()
+            if os.path.splitext(file)[1].lower() in IMAGE_EXTS:
+                exact_path = os.path.join(r, file)
+                with Image.open(exact_path) as img:  # lazy
+                    if img.format.lower() in PIL_EXTS:
+                        images.append(exact_path)
+    return images
 
-            if ext_lower not in {".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png"}:
-                continue
 
-            with Image.open(exact_path) as img:  # lazy
-                if img.format.lower() in {"jpeg", "png"}:
-                    images.append(exact_path)
-    return images
+def yield_images(path: str) -> Generator[str, None, None]:
+    """
+    Yield images in a given path
+    Args:
+        path (str): path's location
+    Yields:
+        image (str): image path
+    """
+    for r, _, f in os.walk(path):
+        for file in f:
+            if os.path.splitext(file)[1].lower() in IMAGE_EXTS:
+                exact_path = os.path.join(r, file)
+                with Image.open(exact_path) as img:  # lazy
+                    if img.format.lower() in PIL_EXTS:
+                        yield exact_path
 
 
 def find_image_hash(file_path: str) -> str:
diff --git a/deepface/modules/recognition.py b/deepface/modules/recognition.py
index f1531324..90e8c297 100644
--- a/deepface/modules/recognition.py
+++ b/deepface/modules/recognition.py
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ def find(
     representations = []
 
     # required columns for representations
-    df_cols = [
+    df_cols = {
         "identity",
         "hash",
         "embedding",
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ def find(
         "target_y",
         "target_w",
         "target_h",
-    ]
+    }
 
     # Ensure the proper pickle file exists
     if not os.path.exists(datastore_path):
@@ -157,18 +157,15 @@ def find(
 
     # check each item of representations list has required keys
     for i, current_representation in enumerate(representations):
-        missing_keys = set(df_cols) - set(current_representation.keys())
+        missing_keys = df_cols - set(current_representation.keys())
         if len(missing_keys) > 0:
             raise ValueError(
                 f"{i}-th item does not have some required keys - {missing_keys}."
                 f"Consider to delete {datastore_path}"
             )
 
-    # embedded images
-    pickled_images = [representation["identity"] for representation in representations]
-
     # Get the list of images on storage
-    storage_images = image_utils.list_images(path=db_path)
+    storage_images = set(image_utils.yield_images(path=db_path))
 
     if len(storage_images) == 0 and refresh_database is True:
         raise ValueError(f"No item found in {db_path}")
@@ -186,8 +183,13 @@ def find(
 
     # Enforce data consistency amongst on disk images and pickle file
     if refresh_database:
-        new_images = set(storage_images) - set(pickled_images)  # images added to storage
-        old_images = set(pickled_images) - set(storage_images)  # images removed from storage
+        # embedded images
+        pickled_images = {
+            representation["identity"] for representation in representations
+        }
+
+        new_images = storage_images - pickled_images  # images added to storage
+        old_images = pickled_images - storage_images  # images removed from storage
 
         # detect replaced images
         for current_representation in representations:
diff --git a/tests/test_find.py b/tests/test_find.py
index ffea91b8..de8956da 100644
--- a/tests/test_find.py
+++ b/tests/test_find.py
@@ -95,12 +95,23 @@ def test_filetype_for_find():
 
 
 def test_filetype_for_find_bulk_embeddings():
-    imgs = image_utils.list_images("dataset")
+    # List
+    list_imgs = image_utils.list_images("dataset")
 
-    assert len(imgs) > 0
+    assert len(list_imgs) > 0
 
     # img47 is webp even though its extension is jpg
-    assert "dataset/img47.jpg" not in imgs
+    assert "dataset/img47.jpg" not in list_imgs
+
+    # Generator
+    gen_imgs = list(image_utils.yield_images("dataset"))
+
+    assert len(gen_imgs) > 0
+
+    # img47 is webp even though its extension is jpg
+    assert "dataset/img47.jpg" not in gen_imgs
+
+    assert gen_imgs == list_imgs
 
 
 def test_find_without_refresh_database():