diff --git a/.github/workflows/compiled_rector_cache.yaml b/.github/workflows/compiled_rector_cache.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..db9363ef03f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/compiled_rector_cache.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# Runs the compiled rector/rector on a small project twice, to check that the cache survives a run.
+# The compiled build is published from main, so this runs after a merge, not on a pull request.
+name: Compiled Rector Cache
+
+on:
+    push:
+        branches:
+            - main
+    schedule:
+        - cron: '0 6 * * *'
+    workflow_dispatch: null
+
+jobs:
+    compiled_rector_cache:
+        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+        timeout-minutes: 5
+
+        steps:
+            -   uses: actions/checkout@v5
+
+            -
+                uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
+                with:
+                    php-version: 8.4
+                    coverage: none
+
+            -   run: composer require --dev rector/rector:dev-main --ansi
+                working-directory: e2e/compiled-rector-cache
+
+            -   run: vendor/bin/rector process --dry-run --ansi
+                working-directory: e2e/compiled-rector-cache
+
+            # a run that clears the cache also removes this marker
+            -   run: touch cache/marker
+                working-directory: e2e/compiled-rector-cache
+
+            -   run: vendor/bin/rector process --dry-run --ansi
+                working-directory: e2e/compiled-rector-cache
+
+            -   run: test -f cache/marker || (echo "The second run cleared the cache" && exit 1)
+                working-directory: e2e/compiled-rector-cache
diff --git a/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/.gitignore b/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e2d5bf368e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+/vendor
+/cache
diff --git a/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/composer.json b/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/composer.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bde01e54aa4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/composer.json
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{
+    "require": {
+        "php": "^8.2"
+    },
+    "require-dev": {
+        "phpunit/phpunit": "^11.5"
+    },
+    "autoload": {
+        "psr-4": {
+            "App\\": "src/"
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/rector.php b/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/rector.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6753e3bc537
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/rector.php
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+use Rector\Config\RectorConfig;
+
+return RectorConfig::configure()
+    ->withPaths([__DIR__ . '/src'])
+    // the PHPUnit set puts PHPStan types in the configuration, which the cache hashes
+    ->withComposerBased(phpunit: true)
+    ->withParallel()
+    ->withCache(__DIR__ . '/cache');
diff --git a/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/src/Customer.php b/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/src/Customer.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..52f7f56c71a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/src/Customer.php
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace App;
+
+final class Customer
+{
+    public function __construct(
+        private readonly string $name,
+    ) {
+    }
+
+    public function getName(): string
+    {
+        return $this->name;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/src/Invoice.php b/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/src/Invoice.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7f333b6888b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/src/Invoice.php
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace App;
+
+final class Invoice
+{
+    public function __construct(
+        private readonly string $name,
+    ) {
+    }
+
+    public function getName(): string
+    {
+        return $this->name;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/src/Order.php b/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/src/Order.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5f84c510daf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/compiled-rector-cache/src/Order.php
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace App;
+
+final class Order
+{
+    public function __construct(
+        private readonly string $name,
+    ) {
+    }
+
+    public function getName(): string
+    {
+        return $this->name;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/DependencyInjection/RectorContainerFactory.php b/src/DependencyInjection/RectorContainerFactory.php
index 0373854a1ae..601c0281a1e 100644
--- a/src/DependencyInjection/RectorContainerFactory.php
+++ b/src/DependencyInjection/RectorContainerFactory.php
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 use Rector\Config\RectorConfig;
 use Rector\NodeTypeResolver\DependencyInjection\PHPStanServicesFactory;
 use Rector\ValueObject\Bootstrap\BootstrapConfigs;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\ArgvInput;
 
 final class RectorContainerFactory
 {
@@ -18,7 +19,9 @@ public function createFromBootstrapConfigs(BootstrapConfigs $bootstrapConfigs):
 
         $mainConfigFile = $bootstrapConfigs->getMainConfigFile();
 
-        if ($mainConfigFile !== null) {
+        // only the main process checks the configuration: the parallel workers share its cache directory,
+        // and a worker that clears the cache would delete files the other workers are writing
+        if ($mainConfigFile !== null && new ArgvInput()->getFirstArgument() !== 'worker') {
             /** @var ChangedFilesDetector $changedFilesDetector */
             $changedFilesDetector = $rectorConfig->make(ChangedFilesDetector::class);
             $changedFilesDetector->setFirstResolvedConfigFileInfo($mainConfigFile);