diff --git a/docs/reference.md b/docs/reference.md
index 4a78518..20697be 100644
--- a/docs/reference.md
+++ b/docs/reference.md
@@ -319,6 +319,7 @@ Public error classes:
 - `FixtureKit::InvalidFixtureDeclaration`
 - `FixtureKit::MultipleFixtures`
 - `FixtureKit::CacheMissingError`
+- `FixtureKit::CacheCorruptError`
 - `FixtureKit::FixtureDefinitionNotFound`
 - `FixtureKit::RunnerAlreadyStartedError`
 - `FixtureKit::CircularFixtureInheritance`
diff --git a/lib/fixture_kit.rb b/lib/fixture_kit.rb
index 7caf094..f84cd14 100644
--- a/lib/fixture_kit.rb
+++ b/lib/fixture_kit.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,14 @@ class DuplicateNameError < Error; end
   class InvalidFixtureDeclaration < Error; end
   class MultipleFixtures < Error; end
   class CacheMissingError < Error; end
+  class CacheCorruptError < Error
+    def self.for(path, cause)
+      new(
+        "FixtureKit cache file at #{path} is corrupt or malformed " \
+        "(#{cause.class}: #{cause.message}). Delete it and re-run to regenerate."
+      )
+    end
+  end
   class FixtureDefinitionNotFound < Error; end
   class RunnerAlreadyStartedError < Error; end
   class CircularFixtureInheritance < Error; end
diff --git a/lib/fixture_kit/file_cache.rb b/lib/fixture_kit/file_cache.rb
index 51da248..8730760 100644
--- a/lib/fixture_kit/file_cache.rb
+++ b/lib/fixture_kit/file_cache.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ def exists?
     end
 
     def read
-      content = JSON.parse(File.read(path))
+      content = parse
 
       data = content.fetch("data").to_h do |coder_name, coder_data|
         coder = coder_for(coder_name)
@@ -60,6 +60,19 @@ def serialize_exposed(exposed)
 
     private
 
+    # Reads and parses the cache file, validating that the required top-level
+    # keys are present. The rescue is scoped to just this step so that decode
+    # errors raised later in #read (e.g. an unregistered coder, a configuration
+    # error) are not misreported as a corrupt cache file.
+    def parse
+      content = JSON.parse(File.read(path))
+      content.fetch("data")
+      content.fetch("exposed")
+      content
+    rescue JSON::ParserError, KeyError => e
+      raise FixtureKit::CacheCorruptError.for(path, e)
+    end
+
     def coder_for(class_name)
       @coder_for ||= FixtureKit.runner.coders.index_by { |c| c.class.name }
       @coder_for.fetch(class_name)
diff --git a/spec/unit/file_cache_spec.rb b/spec/unit/file_cache_spec.rb
index e3415e8..0342548 100644
--- a/spec/unit/file_cache_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/file_cache_spec.rb
@@ -83,6 +83,24 @@
 
       expect(File.exist?(nested_path)).to be(true)
     end
+
+    it "raises CacheCorruptError when the file contains invalid JSON" do
+      FileUtils.mkdir_p(cache_path)
+      File.write(file_path, "this is not json")
+
+      expect { file_cache.read }.to raise_error(FixtureKit::CacheCorruptError) do |error|
+        expect(error.message).to include(file_path)
+        expect(error.message).to include("JSON::ParserError")
+      end
+    end
+
+    it "raises CacheCorruptError when the JSON is missing required keys" do
+      FileUtils.mkdir_p(cache_path)
+      File.write(file_path, JSON.dump({ "data" => {} })) # no "exposed" key
+
+      expect { file_cache.read }
+        .to raise_error(FixtureKit::CacheCorruptError, /is corrupt or malformed.*KeyError/)
+    end
   end
 
   describe "#serialize_exposed" do