diff --git a/sqlmesh/utils/cache.py b/sqlmesh/utils/cache.py
index e72c34f632..59ffb91161 100644
--- a/sqlmesh/utils/cache.py
+++ b/sqlmesh/utils/cache.py
@@ -63,8 +63,13 @@ def __init__(self, path: Path, prefix: t.Optional[str] = None):
                 # the file.stat() call below will fail on windows if the :file name is longer than 260 chars
                 file = fix_windows_path(file)
 
-            if not file.stem.startswith(self._cache_version) or file.stat().st_atime < threshold:
-                file.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+            try:
+                stat_result = file.stat()
+                if not file.stem.startswith(self._cache_version) or stat_result.st_atime < threshold:
+                    file.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+            except FileNotFoundError:
+                # File was deleted between glob() and stat() — skip stale cache entries gracefully
+                continue
 
     def get_or_load(self, name: str, entry_id: str = "", *, loader: t.Callable[[], T]) -> T:
         """Returns an existing cached entry or loads and caches a new one.
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_cache.py b/tests/utils/test_cache.py
index ed19765b8a..cc7d9ee369 100644
--- a/tests/utils/test_cache.py
+++ b/tests/utils/test_cache.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import os
+import time
 import typing as t
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -131,3 +133,22 @@ def test_optimized_query_cache_macro_def_change(tmp_path: Path, mocker: MockerFi
         new_model.render_query_or_raise().sql()
         == 'SELECT "_0"."a" AS "a" FROM (SELECT 1 AS "a") AS "_0" WHERE "_0"."a" = 2'
     )
+
+
+def test_file_cache_init_handles_stale_file(tmp_path: Path, mocker: MockerFixture) -> None:
+    cache: FileCache[_TestEntry] = FileCache(tmp_path)
+
+    stale_file = tmp_path / f"{cache._cache_version}__fake_deleted_model_9999999999"
+    stale_file.touch()
+
+    original_stat = Path.stat
+
+    def flaky_stat(self, **kwargs):
+        if self.name == stale_file.name:
+            raise FileNotFoundError(f"Simulated stale file: {self}")
+        return original_stat(self, **kwargs)
+
+    mocker.patch.object(Path, "stat", flaky_stat)
+
+    FileCache(tmp_path)
+    
\ No newline at end of file