diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index e21f6910..93236743 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -224,6 +224,7 @@
     "test:reviewer-access": "tsx tests/reviewer-access.test.ts",
     "test:command-router": "tsx tests/command-router.test.ts",
     "test:temp-runtime-cleanup": "tsx tests/temp-runtime-cleanup.test.ts",
+    "test:doctor-archive-inspection": "tsx tests/doctor-archive-inspection.test.ts",
     "test:command-agent-run": "tsx tests/command-agent-run.test.ts",
     "smoke:cli-version": "tsx scripts/cli-version-smoke.ts",
     "test:host-command-executor": "tsx tests/host-command-executor.test.ts",
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/doctor.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/doctor.ts
index 3f455a8b..f0e5dba9 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/doctor.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/doctor.ts
@@ -216,18 +216,22 @@ async function archiveCheck(options: DoctorOptions): Promise<HealthCheck> {
   const roots = unique([...options.archiveRoots, ...defaultArchiveRoots()].map((root) => resolve(root)))
   const existingRoots = roots.filter((root) => existsSync(root))
   let checked = 0
+  let skipped = 0
   const invalid: Array<{ path: string; size: number; reason: string; deleted: boolean; error?: string }> = []
 
   for (const root of existingRoots) {
     for await (const archivePath of walkArchiveFiles(root)) {
       checked++
-      const archiveStat = await stat(archivePath)
-      const reason = await invalidZipReason(archivePath, archiveStat.size)
-      if (!reason) {
+      const inspection = await inspectArchivePath(archivePath)
+      if (!inspection) {
+        skipped++
+        continue
+      }
+      if (!inspection.reason) {
         continue
       }
 
-      const row = { path: archivePath, size: archiveStat.size, reason, deleted: false }
+      const row = { path: archivePath, size: inspection.size, reason: inspection.reason, deleted: false }
       if (options.cleanup) {
         try {
           await unlink(archivePath)
@@ -242,16 +246,16 @@ async function archiveCheck(options: DoctorOptions): Promise<HealthCheck> {
   }
 
   if (existingRoots.length === 0) {
-    return { id: "wp-codebox.archives", status: "ok", message: "no known WP Codebox/Playground archive roots found", details: { roots, existingRoots, checked: 0, invalid: [] } }
+    return { id: "wp-codebox.archives", status: "ok", message: "no known WP Codebox/Playground archive roots found", details: { roots, existingRoots, checked: 0, skipped: 0, invalid: [] } }
   }
   if (invalid.length === 0) {
-    return { id: "wp-codebox.archives", status: "ok", message: `checked ${checked} archive(s); no invalid archives found`, details: { roots, existingRoots, checked, invalid } }
+    return { id: "wp-codebox.archives", status: "ok", message: `checked ${checked} archive(s); no invalid archives found`, details: { roots, existingRoots, checked, skipped, invalid } }
   }
   return {
     id: "wp-codebox.archives",
     status: options.cleanup && invalid.every((row) => row.deleted) ? "ok" : "warning",
     message: options.cleanup ? `removed ${invalid.filter((row) => row.deleted).length}/${invalid.length} invalid archive(s)` : `${invalid.length} invalid archive(s) found`,
-    details: { roots, existingRoots, checked, invalid },
+    details: { roots, existingRoots, checked, skipped, invalid },
   }
 }
 
@@ -303,10 +307,7 @@ function isRecipeRunCommand(command: string): boolean {
 }
 
 async function* walkArchiveFiles(root: string): AsyncGenerator<string> {
-  const entries = await opendir(root).catch(() => undefined)
-  if (!entries) {
-    return
-  }
+  const entries = await opendir(root)
   for await (const entry of entries) {
     const path = join(root, entry.name)
     if (entry.isDirectory()) {
@@ -317,6 +318,16 @@ async function* walkArchiveFiles(root: string): AsyncGenerator<string> {
   }
 }
 
+export async function inspectArchivePath(path: string): Promise<{ size: number; reason?: string } | undefined> {
+  try {
+    const archiveStat = await stat(path)
+    return { size: archiveStat.size, reason: await invalidZipReason(path, archiveStat.size) }
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (isMissingFileError(error)) return undefined
+    throw error
+  }
+}
+
 async function invalidZipReason(path: string, size: number): Promise<string | undefined> {
   if (size < 22) {
     return "too small to be a zip archive"
@@ -339,6 +350,10 @@ function errorMessage(error: unknown): string {
   return error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)
 }
 
+function isMissingFileError(error: unknown): boolean {
+  return typeof error === "object" && error !== null && "code" in error && error.code === "ENOENT"
+}
+
 function execFile(command: string, args: string[], options: { cwd?: string } = {}): Promise<{ stdout: string; stderr: string }> {
   return new Promise((resolveExec, rejectExec) => {
     const child = spawn(command, args, { cwd: options.cwd, stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"] })
diff --git a/scripts/smoke-manifest.ts b/scripts/smoke-manifest.ts
index 9b109593..e150f860 100644
--- a/scripts/smoke-manifest.ts
+++ b/scripts/smoke-manifest.ts
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ export const smokeGroups = {
       npmScript("test:runtime-preset-registry"),
       npmScript("test:provider-runtime-contracts"),
       tsxSmoke("discovery-command-smoke"),
+      npmScript("test:doctor-archive-inspection"),
       tsxSmoke("doctor-command-smoke"),
       tsxSmoke("cli-json-failure-smoke"),
       tsxSmoke("source-checkout-entrypoint-smoke"),
diff --git a/tests/doctor-archive-inspection.test.ts b/tests/doctor-archive-inspection.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..66f4a2dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/doctor-archive-inspection.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict"
+import { mkdir, mkdtemp, rm, stat, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises"
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os"
+import { join } from "node:path"
+import { inspectArchivePath } from "../packages/cli/src/commands/doctor.js"
+
+const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "wp-codebox-doctor-archive-test-"))
+
+try {
+  const vanishedArchive = join(root, "vanished.zip")
+  await writeFile(vanishedArchive, Buffer.alloc(22))
+  const enumeratedArchives = [vanishedArchive]
+  await rm(vanishedArchive)
+
+  assert.equal(await inspectArchivePath(enumeratedArchives[0]!), undefined, "an archive removed after enumeration is skipped")
+
+  const erroringArchive = join(root, "still-present.zip")
+  await mkdir(erroringArchive)
+  for (let index = 0; index < 4; index++) {
+    await writeFile(join(erroringArchive, `entry-${index}`), "content")
+  }
+
+  await assert.rejects(
+    inspectArchivePath(erroringArchive),
+    (error: NodeJS.ErrnoException) => error.code === "EISDIR",
+    "a still-present entry inspection error must remain surfaced",
+  )
+  assert.equal((await stat(erroringArchive)).isDirectory(), true)
+
+  console.log("Doctor archive inspection tests passed")
+} finally {
+  await rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
+}