diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-breaking.yaml b/.github/workflows/test-breaking.yaml
index 80fc579..a0b8244 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-breaking.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-breaking.yaml
@@ -341,3 +341,30 @@ jobs:
             echo "Expected output '$OASDIFF_ACTION_TEST_EXPECTED_OUTPUT' (include-checks must be ignored, not forwarded) but got '$output'" >&2
             exit 1
           fi
+
+  oasdiff_breaking_unresolved_ref:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    name: Test a failed comparison is not reported as clean
+    steps:
+      - name: checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v7
+      - name: Run breaking action against a spec that cannot be loaded
+        id: test_unresolved_ref
+        continue-on-error: true
+        uses: ./breaking
+        with:
+          base: 'specs/unresolved-ref.yaml'
+          revision: 'specs/unresolved-ref.yaml'
+          review: false
+      - name: Assert the step failed and reported no clean result
+        run: |
+          if [ "${{ steps.test_unresolved_ref.outcome }}" != "failure" ]; then
+            echo "Expected the action to fail when the spec cannot be loaded" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          case "${{ steps.test_unresolved_ref.outputs.breaking }}" in
+            *"No breaking changes"*)
+              echo "A failed comparison must never be reported as 'No breaking changes'" >&2
+              exit 1
+              ;;
+          esac
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-diff.yaml b/.github/workflows/test-diff.yaml
index c398e74..c9f4a30 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-diff.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-diff.yaml
@@ -122,3 +122,29 @@ jobs:
   # oasdiff-token, or a reachable oasdiff-service.
   # ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+
+  oasdiff_diff_unresolved_ref:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    name: Test a failed comparison is not reported as clean
+    steps:
+      - name: checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v7
+      - name: Run diff action against a spec that cannot be loaded
+        id: test_unresolved_ref
+        continue-on-error: true
+        uses: ./diff
+        with:
+          base: 'specs/unresolved-ref.yaml'
+          revision: 'specs/unresolved-ref.yaml'
+      - name: Assert the step failed and reported no clean result
+        run: |
+          if [ "${{ steps.test_unresolved_ref.outcome }}" != "failure" ]; then
+            echo "Expected the action to fail when the spec cannot be loaded" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          case "${{ steps.test_unresolved_ref.outputs.diff }}" in
+            *"No changes"*)
+              echo "A failed comparison must never be reported as 'No changes'" >&2
+              exit 1
+              ;;
+          esac
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-validate.yaml b/.github/workflows/test-validate.yaml
index 1ac46ce..9ec00ad 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-validate.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-validate.yaml
@@ -84,3 +84,32 @@ jobs:
             echo "Expected the step to fail with fail-on WARN" >&2
             exit 1
           fi
+
+  oasdiff_validate_unresolved_ref:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    name: Test a failed validation is not reported as clean
+    steps:
+      - name: checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v7
+      - name: Run validate action against a spec that cannot be loaded
+        id: test_unresolved_ref
+        continue-on-error: true
+        uses: ./validate
+        with:
+          spec: 'specs/unresolved-ref.yaml'
+      - name: Assert the step failed and published no finding counts
+        run: |
+          if [ "${{ steps.test_unresolved_ref.outcome }}" != "failure" ]; then
+            echo "Expected the action to fail when the spec cannot be loaded" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          # A spec that never loaded produces no findings to count. Publishing
+          # 0 would read as a clean spec to anything gating on these.
+          if [ "${{ steps.test_unresolved_ref.outputs.findings }}" = "0" ]; then
+            echo "A failed validation must not report findings=0" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          if [ "${{ steps.test_unresolved_ref.outputs.error_count }}" = "0" ]; then
+            echo "A failed validation must not report error_count=0" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
diff --git a/breaking/entrypoint.sh b/breaking/entrypoint.sh
index a636528..a06fa86 100755
--- a/breaking/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/breaking/entrypoint.sh
@@ -193,13 +193,18 @@ breaking_changes=$(oasdiff breaking "$base" "$revision" $flags $fail_on_flag 2>"
 # Promote a genuine oasdiff failure to a Checks-tab annotation. Exit 0 is
 # success and exit 1 is the intended "breaking changes found" / fail-on result;
 # only codes >=2 (load/parse/etc.) are real errors worth surfacing here.
-if [ "$exit_code" -ge 2 ] && [ -s "$_err" ]; then
-    echo "::error::$(tr '\n' ' ' < "$_err")"
-fi
-# Exit code 123 = oasdiff refused a disallowed external $ref (stable contract,
-# not message text). Surface the action-specific remedy.
-if [ "$exit_code" -eq 123 ]; then
-    echo "::error::oasdiff: this spec resolves external \$refs, which are disabled by default to prevent SSRF on untrusted pull requests. If the spec is trusted, set 'allow-external-refs: true' on the oasdiff action step."
+# Stop here on a real failure: the comparison never ran, so there is nothing to
+# report about it. Falling through would report a clean result for a run that
+# failed. Matches the changelog action.
+if [ "$exit_code" -ge 2 ]; then
+    [ -s "$_err" ] && echo "::error::$(tr '\n' ' ' < "$_err")"
+    # Exit code 123 = oasdiff refused a disallowed external $ref (stable
+    # contract, not message text). Surface the action-specific remedy.
+    if [ "$exit_code" -eq 123 ]; then
+        echo "::error::oasdiff: this spec resolves external \$refs, which are disabled by default to prevent SSRF on untrusted pull requests. If the spec is trusted, set 'allow-external-refs: true' on the oasdiff action step."
+    fi
+    rm -f "$_err"
+    exit "$exit_code"
 fi
 rm -f "$_err"
 
diff --git a/diff/entrypoint.sh b/diff/entrypoint.sh
index 7b4e183..9f9ab9a 100755
--- a/diff/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/diff/entrypoint.sh
@@ -91,13 +91,18 @@ fi
 # Promote a genuine oasdiff failure to a Checks-tab annotation. Exit 0 is
 # success and exit 1 is the intended fail-on-diff result; only codes >=2
 # (load/parse/etc.) are real errors worth surfacing here.
-if [ "$exit_code" -ge 2 ] && [ -s "$_err" ]; then
-    echo "::error::$(tr '\n' ' ' < "$_err")"
-fi
-# Exit code 123 = oasdiff refused a disallowed external $ref (stable contract,
-# not message text). Surface the action-specific remedy.
-if [ "$exit_code" -eq 123 ]; then
-    echo "::error::oasdiff: this spec resolves external \$refs, which are disabled by default to prevent SSRF on untrusted pull requests. If the spec is trusted, set 'allow-external-refs: true' on the oasdiff action step."
+# Stop here on a real failure: the comparison never ran, so there is nothing to
+# report about it. Falling through would report a clean result for a run that
+# failed. Matches the changelog action.
+if [ "$exit_code" -ge 2 ]; then
+    [ -s "$_err" ] && echo "::error::$(tr '\n' ' ' < "$_err")"
+    # Exit code 123 = oasdiff refused a disallowed external $ref (stable
+    # contract, not message text). Surface the action-specific remedy.
+    if [ "$exit_code" -eq 123 ]; then
+        echo "::error::oasdiff: this spec resolves external \$refs, which are disabled by default to prevent SSRF on untrusted pull requests. If the spec is trusted, set 'allow-external-refs: true' on the oasdiff action step."
+    fi
+    rm -f "$_err"
+    exit "$exit_code"
 fi
 rm -f "$_err"
 
diff --git a/specs/unresolved-ref.yaml b/specs/unresolved-ref.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7adaf2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/specs/unresolved-ref.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# A spec whose $ref cannot be resolved, so oasdiff fails to load it.
+# Used to check that a failed comparison is never reported as a clean result.
+openapi: 3.0.0
+info:
+  title: unresolved-ref
+  version: 1.0.0
+paths: {}
+components:
+  schemas:
+    Missing:
+      $ref: './no-such-file.yaml#/Missing'
diff --git a/validate/entrypoint.sh b/validate/entrypoint.sh
index 331c144..68850f5 100755
--- a/validate/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/validate/entrypoint.sh
@@ -38,13 +38,18 @@ oasdiff validate $flags --format githubactions "$spec" 2>"$_err" || exit_code=$?
 # Promote a genuine oasdiff failure to a Checks-tab annotation. Exit 0 is
 # success and exit 1 is the intended fail-on result; only codes >=2
 # (load/parse/etc.) are real errors worth surfacing here.
-if [ "$exit_code" -ge 2 ] && [ -s "$_err" ]; then
-    echo "::error::$(tr '\n' ' ' < "$_err")"
-fi
-# Exit code 123 = oasdiff refused a disallowed external $ref (stable contract,
-# not message text). Surface the action-specific remedy.
-if [ "$exit_code" -eq 123 ]; then
-    echo "::error::oasdiff: this spec resolves external \$refs, which are disabled by default to prevent SSRF on untrusted pull requests. If the spec is trusted, set 'allow-external-refs: true' on the oasdiff validate step."
+if [ "$exit_code" -ge 2 ]; then
+    [ -s "$_err" ] && echo "::error::$(tr '\n' ' ' < "$_err")"
+    # Exit code 123 = oasdiff refused a disallowed external $ref (stable
+    # contract, not message text). Surface the action-specific remedy.
+    if [ "$exit_code" -eq 123 ]; then
+        echo "::error::oasdiff: this spec resolves external \$refs, which are disabled by default to prevent SSRF on untrusted pull requests. If the spec is trusted, set 'allow-external-refs: true' on the oasdiff validate step."
+    fi
+    rm -f "$_err"
+    # Stop here. Run 2 below would fail the same way and print nothing, and the
+    # count that reads it cannot tell that from a valid spec, so the outputs
+    # would say findings=0 and error_count=0 for a spec that never loaded.
+    exit "$exit_code"
 fi
 rm -f "$_err"