diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/cache/CompactPersistentActionCache.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/cache/CompactPersistentActionCache.java
index 810fa7c5b33f95..827a3357a6d389 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/cache/CompactPersistentActionCache.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/cache/CompactPersistentActionCache.java
@@ -270,6 +270,9 @@ private static CompactPersistentActionCache create(
    * <p>Backported from https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/pull/27525 (Bazel 9.0.0).
    */
   private static void deleteUnrecognizedFiles(Path cacheRoot) throws IOException {
+    if (!cacheRoot.exists()) {
+      return;
+    }
     Path indexFile = cacheRoot.getChild("filename_index_v" + VERSION + ".blaze");
     Path indexJournalFile = cacheRoot.getChild("filename_index_v" + VERSION + ".journal");
     ImmutableSet<Path> knownFiles =