diff --git a/lib/src/entrypoint.dart b/lib/src/entrypoint.dart
index 9e6c0f30510..0101bfcbc61 100644
--- a/lib/src/entrypoint.dart
+++ b/lib/src/entrypoint.dart
@@ -1046,8 +1046,10 @@ To update `$lockFilePath` run `$topLevelProgram pub get`$suffix without
           }
 
           // For cached sources, make sure the directory exists and looks like a
-          // package. This is also done by [_arePackagesAvailable] but that may
-          // not be run if the lockfile is newer than the pubspec.
+          // package. The main loop in [isResolutionUpToDate] also checks that
+          // the `pubspec.yaml` exists, but it stops early at the first pubspec
+          // that is strictly newer than the lockfile, so it may not have
+          // reached this package.
           if (source is CachedSource && !dirExists(lockFilePackagePath) ||
               !fileExists(p.join(lockFilePackagePath, 'pubspec.yaml'))) {
             return false;
@@ -1321,15 +1323,20 @@ To update `$lockFilePath` run `$topLevelProgram pub get`$suffix without
           'pubspec.yaml',
         ),
       );
-      if (p.isWithin(cache.rootDir, pubspecPath)) {
-        continue;
-      }
       final pubspecStat = tryStatFile(pubspecPath);
       if (pubspecStat == null) {
         log.fine('Could not find `$pubspecPath`');
         // A dependency is missing - do a full new resolution.
         return null;
       }
+      // Cached packages are immutable, so their timestamps say nothing about
+      // this resolution: an entry in a shared cache may well have been
+      // downloaded by another project after this lockfile was written. They do
+      // have to exist though, which is why they are only skipped after the
+      // stat above. See https://github.com/dart-lang/pub/issues/4559.
+      if (p.isWithin(cache.rootDir, pubspecPath)) {
+        continue;
+      }
 
       if (!lockFileModified.isAfter(pubspecStat.modified)) {
         log.fine('`$pubspecPath` is newer than `$lockFilePath`');
diff --git a/lib/src/source/hosted.dart b/lib/src/source/hosted.dart
index e3a641f3c07..8f9d98d5722 100644
--- a/lib/src/source/hosted.dart
+++ b/lib/src/source/hosted.dart
@@ -1306,6 +1306,16 @@ class HostedSource extends CachedSource {
         contentHash = hashFromCache;
       }
     }
+    if (dirExists(packageDir) &&
+        !fileExists(p.join(packageDir, 'pubspec.yaml'))) {
+      // The entry is unusable without a `pubspec.yaml`. Pub never extracts a
+      // package without one, so something else has damaged the cache.
+      log.warning(
+        'Cached version of ${id.name}-${id.version} is missing its '
+        'pubspec.yaml - redownloading.',
+      );
+      deleteEntry(packageDir);
+    }
     if (dirExists(packageDir)) {
       contentHash ??= sha256FromCache(id, cache);
     } else {
diff --git a/test/deps_test.dart b/test/deps_test.dart
index 11dc0204616..022e6781025 100644
--- a/test/deps_test.dart
+++ b/test/deps_test.dart
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 @TestOn('vm')
 library;
 
+import 'package:pub/src/io.dart';
 import 'package:pub/src/path.dart';
 import 'package:test/test.dart';
 
@@ -340,6 +341,30 @@ void main() {
       );
     });
 
+    test(
+      're-resolves and succeeds when a cached package is deleted with --json',
+      () async {
+        await pubGet();
+        deleteEntry(p.join(d.sandbox, cachePath));
+        await runPub(
+          args: ['deps', '--json'],
+          output: contains('"name": "normal"'),
+        );
+      },
+    );
+
+    test("re-resolves and succeeds when a cached package's pubspec.yaml is "
+        'deleted with --json', () async {
+      await pubGet();
+      deleteEntry(
+        p.join(d.sandbox, d.hostedCachePath(), 'normal-1.2.3', 'pubspec.yaml'),
+      );
+      await runPub(
+        args: ['deps', '--json'],
+        output: contains('"name": "normal"'),
+      );
+    });
+
     test('with the Flutter SDK, if applicable', () async {
       await pubGet();
 
diff --git a/test/embedding/ensure_pubspec_resolved.dart b/test/embedding/ensure_pubspec_resolved.dart
index c3448b8ac3b..1e1c9d3f2fa 100644
--- a/test/embedding/ensure_pubspec_resolved.dart
+++ b/test/embedding/ensure_pubspec_resolved.dart
@@ -181,7 +181,23 @@ void testEnsurePubspecResolved() {
         // Ensure that the pubspec looks newer than the lockfile.
         await _touch('pubspec.yaml');
 
-        await _implicitPubGet('`pubspec.yaml` is newer than `pubspec.lock`');
+        await _implicitPubGet(
+          r'Could not find `$SANDBOX/cache/hosted/localhost%58$PORT/foo-1.0.0/pubspec.yaml`',
+        );
+      });
+
+      test('a cached package was deleted', () async {
+        await d.dir(appPath, [
+          d.appPubspec(dependencies: {'foo': '1.0.0'}),
+        ]).create();
+
+        await pubGet();
+
+        deleteEntry(p.join(d.sandbox, cachePath));
+
+        await _implicitPubGet(
+          r'Could not find `$SANDBOX/cache/hosted/localhost%58$PORT/foo-1.0.0/pubspec.yaml`',
+        );
       });
 
       test('the package_config.json file points to the wrong place', () async {
diff --git a/test/get/hosted/get_test.dart b/test/get/hosted/get_test.dart
index 899257d1295..1c800d45ae5 100644
--- a/test/get/hosted/get_test.dart
+++ b/test/get/hosted/get_test.dart
@@ -444,4 +444,26 @@ void main() {
       exitCode: UNAVAILABLE,
     );
   });
+
+  test('redownloads a cached package whose pubspec.yaml is missing', () async {
+    final server = await servePackages();
+    server.serve('foo', '1.0.0');
+    await d.appDir(dependencies: {'foo': '1.0.0'}).create();
+    await pubGet();
+
+    final pubspecPath = p.join(
+      d.sandbox,
+      d.hostedCachePath(),
+      'foo-1.0.0',
+      'pubspec.yaml',
+    );
+    deleteEntry(pubspecPath);
+
+    await pubGet(
+      warning:
+          'Cached version of foo-1.0.0 is missing its pubspec.yaml '
+          '- redownloading.',
+    );
+    expect(fileExists(pubspecPath), isTrue);
+  });
 }