diff --git a/dvc/ignore.py b/dvc/ignore.py
index 301e666918..447bbb5b0e 100644
--- a/dvc/ignore.py
+++ b/dvc/ignore.py
@@ -324,6 +324,8 @@ def _outside_repo(self, path):
         return False
 
     def check_ignore(self, target):
+        # NOTE: can only be used in `dvc check-ignore`, see
+        # https://github.com/iterative/dvc/issues/5046
         full_target = os.path.abspath(target)
         if not self._outside_repo(full_target):
             dirname, basename = os.path.split(os.path.normpath(full_target))
@@ -340,7 +342,11 @@ def check_ignore(self, target):
     def is_ignored(self, path):
         # NOTE: can't use self.check_ignore(path).match for now, see
         # https://github.com/iterative/dvc/issues/4555
-        return self.is_ignored_dir(path) or self.is_ignored_file(path)
+        if os.path.isfile(path):
+            return self.is_ignored_file(path)
+        if os.path.isdir(path):
+            return self.is_ignored_dir(path)
+        return self.is_ignored_file(path) or self.is_ignored_dir(path)
 
 
 def init(path):
diff --git a/dvc/output/base.py b/dvc/output/base.py
index 1f4de887b7..23f0e67980 100644
--- a/dvc/output/base.py
+++ b/dvc/output/base.py
@@ -530,8 +530,8 @@ def _validate_output_path(cls, path, stage=None):
             raise cls.IsStageFileError(path)
 
         if stage:
-            check = stage.repo.tree.dvcignore.check_ignore(path)
-            if check.match:
+            if stage.repo.tree.dvcignore.is_ignored(path):
+                check = stage.repo.tree.dvcignore.check_ignore(path)
                 raise cls.IsIgnoredError(check)
 
     def _check_can_merge(self, out):
diff --git a/tests/func/test_ignore.py b/tests/func/test_ignore.py
index 0b87588e86..2dc4d3c835 100644
--- a/tests/func/test_ignore.py
+++ b/tests/func/test_ignore.py
@@ -403,8 +403,17 @@ def test_ignore_in_added_dir(tmp_dir, dvc):
     assert not ignored_path.exists()
 
 
-def test_ignored_output(tmp_dir, scm, dvc, run_copy):
-    tmp_dir.gen({".dvcignore": "*.log", "foo": "foo content"})
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "ignore_patterns,raise_error",
+    [("*.log", True), ("*.log\n!foo.log", False)],
+)
+def test_ignored_output(
+    tmp_dir, scm, dvc, run_copy, ignore_patterns, raise_error
+):
+    tmp_dir.gen({".dvcignore": ignore_patterns, "foo": "foo content"})
 
-    with pytest.raises(OutputIsIgnoredError):
+    if raise_error:
+        with pytest.raises(OutputIsIgnoredError):
+            run_copy("foo", "foo.log", name="copy")
+    else:
         run_copy("foo", "foo.log", name="copy")
diff --git a/tests/unit/output/test_output.py b/tests/unit/output/test_output.py
index 8a8240430e..440eee154d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/output/test_output.py
+++ b/tests/unit/output/test_output.py
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ def test_get_used_cache(exists, expected_message, mocker, caplog):
     stage = mocker.MagicMock()
     mocker.patch.object(stage, "__str__", return_value="stage: 'stage.dvc'")
     mocker.patch.object(stage, "addressing", "stage.dvc")
+    mocker.patch.object(
+        stage.repo.tree.dvcignore, "is_ignored", return_value=False,
+    )
     mocker.patch.object(
         stage.repo.tree.dvcignore,
         "check_ignore",