diff --git a/src/Console/Command/PurgeCommand.php b/src/Console/Command/PurgeCommand.php
index bbef3d2..548c46a 100644
--- a/src/Console/Command/PurgeCommand.php
+++ b/src/Console/Command/PurgeCommand.php
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ class PurgeCommand extends BaseCommand
         }
 
         $packageSelection = new PackageSelection($output, $outputDir, $config, false);
-        $packages = $packageSelection->load();
+        $packages = $packageSelection->load(true);
 
         $satis_homepage = getenv('SATIS_HOMEPAGE');
         $prefix = sprintf(
diff --git a/src/PackageSelection/PackageSelection.php b/src/PackageSelection/PackageSelection.php
index 552c425..ddadf76 100644
--- a/src/PackageSelection/PackageSelection.php
+++ b/src/PackageSelection/PackageSelection.php
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ class PackageSelection
     /**
      * @return PackageInterface[]
      */
-    public function load(): array
+    public function load(bool $failOnMissingInclude = false): array
     {
         $packages = [];
         $rootJsonFile = new JsonFile($this->filename);
@@ -330,11 +330,17 @@ class PackageSelection
             $includedJsonFile = new JsonFile($dirname . '/' . $file);
 
             if (!$includedJsonFile->exists()) {
-                $this->output->writeln(sprintf(
-                    '<error>File \'%s\' does not exist, defined in "includes" in \'%s\'</error>',
+                $message = sprintf(
+                    'File \'%s\' does not exist, defined in "includes" in \'%s\'',
                     $includedJsonFile->getPath(),
                     $rootJsonFile->getPath()
-                ));
+                );
+
+                if ($failOnMissingInclude) {
+                    throw new \RuntimeException($message);
+                }
+
+                $this->output->writeln('<error>' . $message . '</error>');
 
                 continue;
             }
diff --git a/tests/Console/Command/PurgeCommandTest.php b/tests/Console/Command/PurgeCommandTest.php
index 7894b6f..cf4e35c 100644
--- a/tests/Console/Command/PurgeCommandTest.php
+++ b/tests/Console/Command/PurgeCommandTest.php
@@ -534,6 +534,55 @@ class PurgeCommandTest extends TestCase
         self::assertStringContainsString('Removed empty directory', $tester->getDisplay());
     }
 
+    /**
+     * A concurrent build can rewrite packages.json and drop the include it points to;
+     * the archives listed in that include are still needed and must not be purged.
+     */
+    #[TestDox('execute() aborts without removing archives when an included file is missing')]
+    public function testExecuteAbortsWhenIncludedFileIsMissing(): void
+    {
+        $outputDir = vfsStream::url('satis/output-missing-include');
+        mkdir($outputDir);
+        $archiveDir = $outputDir . '/dist';
+        mkdir($archiveDir . '/vendor', 0755, true);
+
+        $archiveFile = $archiveDir . '/vendor/package.tar.gz';
+        file_put_contents($archiveFile, 'a');
+
+        $includeFile = 'include/all$missing.json';
+        $this->writeOutputRepository($outputDir, $this->packageEntry(
+            'vendor/package',
+            '1.0.0',
+            'https://example.com/dist/vendor/package.tar.gz'
+        ), $includeFile);
+        unlink($outputDir . '/' . $includeFile);
+
+        $this->writeSatisConfig([
+            'name' => 'test/satis-repo',
+            'homepage' => 'https://example.com',
+            'output-dir' => $outputDir,
+            'archive' => [
+                'directory' => 'dist',
+                'prefix-url' => 'https://example.com',
+            ],
+        ]);
+
+        $tester = $this->createTester();
+        $exception = null;
+
+        try {
+            $tester->execute([
+                'file' => $this->configPath,
+                'output-dir' => $outputDir,
+            ]);
+        } catch (\RuntimeException $exception) {
+        }
+
+        self::assertInstanceOf(\RuntimeException::class, $exception);
+        self::assertStringContainsString($includeFile . '\' does not exist', $exception->getMessage());
+        self::assertFileExists($archiveFile);
+    }
+
     // --- Dry-run ---
 
     #[TestDox('execute() does not remove archives or empty dirs when dry-run is enabled')]